


The masquerade gambling

by RainbowPlane



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Not Beta Read, Slow Burn, Spoilers from november and Akechi in general, The main focus is on the palace though, Trauma, akechi palace au, i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-09
Updated: 2018-07-11
Packaged: 2019-05-04 11:38:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 34,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14592219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainbowPlane/pseuds/RainbowPlane
Summary: The nights were dark, but not any darker than before. Even after all those years nothing seemed to have changed. Nothing but his own behaviour.He's developed a mask, a mask to show towards the world. To hide his true self, his true feelings, his pain.Over the course of his lifetime he'd realised this mask was vital. No one would ever like a broken person. Everyone only likes perfection. The perfect person with the never-ending smile. So that’s what he became.Now he finds himself surrounded by people different from the ones he’d met before. They aren’t hiding themselves behind masks, not anymore at least. All of them are free, and they still truly do care for one another.It doesn’t make sense to him, but he felt curious. Although he was originally there for other businesses he also intended to look for answers during the time he was there. He was never going to be a true part of them, he was only using them. And if his suspicions were correct he was only being used by them as well.No one would truly like him for who he is, for who he is under the mask. So he just has to live on and pretend, till the mask breaks.





	1. A palace filled with masks

**Author's Note:**

> And so I started to write this idea I've had stuck in my head for the past few weeks. It's going to be a long one, so please enjoy the ride!

‘’What you do mean we should try something different? What are you planning?’’ All of the thieves had gathered themselves in their hideout in Leblanc. They had agreed to work alongside Akechi to change Sae’s heart, but they all knew this would lead them into a trap. Now they were discussing how to possibly counter the situation.

Ren had stated there was a different way. But this confused everyone, so he explained. ‘’Can’t we just change Akechi’s heart as well? I’m pretty sure he’s kinda twisted.’’ Ren didn’t like the other option. He didn’t like to just use Akechi, even when he was using them in the same way. It was clear to him that Akechi had some extreme troubles in his past and present, so he wanted to help him, not hurt him even more.

‘’How are you planning to do that? We might already be low on time with our original plan. And besides, Akechi will probably notice.’’ Makoto spoke her concerns. There were way too many fact to get into account while even considering this.

‘’That isn’t the only problem. Does he even have a palace?’’

‘’Can other persona users even get palaces?’’

Morgana jumped up. ‘’I’ve never seen it before, and I think it’s highly unlikely, but I can’t say for certain it’s impossible.’’

‘’He does. I’ve checked.’’ Ren said. This silences any muttering that previously filled the room. ‘’I already checked back at the first time we met, something just didn’t feel right about him.’’

Curious eyes looked at him. No one ever knew their leader possessed this type of information, no one even knew he could be so untrusting of someone.

‘’I’m just saying it’s clear that we could probably save him if we do. If my hunch is correct he doesn’t have a palace because he’s evil, but because he’s in pain. I think it’s like what happened to Futaba.’’ Futaba shifted her body slightly after hearing her name. She felt kind of uncomfortable thinking about what happened.’

‘’We can at least go and look at the palace before we decide to clear it.’’ Haru said from the other side of the room.

‘’You sure?’’ Ann asked her. No one expected her to be into the idea at all, so for her to propose to look was quite a shock.

Haru simply nodded in response. ‘’Alright then. I guess it doesn’t hurt to look.’’ Ann said.

Soon everyone agreed.

‘’But do we have any indications on his keywords?’’ Yusuke asked after everyone stated they were in.

Ren looked down for a moment. ‘’No, we don’t. But we will have soon.’’

‘’What are you planning?’’

Ren’s eyes looked up again, now a small smirk formed on his face. ‘’Oh, you know. I just have to invite my lovely detective to a little date of course.’’

Everyone looked at him with the most dead and disappointed expression they could possibly form on their face. ‘’You’re going to talk to him. At least phrase it a little more seriously, our lives may depend on it you know.’’ Makoto said.

‘’Sorry. Yes, I am going to talk to him. I will say I just want to get to know my team members better.’’

‘’When are you going to?’’ Ryuji asked.

Ren pretended like he was thinking for a moment before responding. ‘’As soon as you guys leave. The sooner the better, right?’’

‘’Dude! Don’t you at least need some time to prepare for this? You can’t screw this up ya know.’’ Ryuji said.

‘’I will take care. No need to worry.’’ Ren reassured the others everything was going to be okay.

Soon everyone left the building. Ren grabbed his phone to text Akechi immediately, before he had any second thoughts.

_Ren: ‘’Hey. You free tonight?’’_

He almost laid the phone down again, but he already gotten a responds.

_Akechi: ‘’Depends why you are asking.’’_

Ren smiled a little, that responds was way too typical.

_Ren: ‘’Coffee?’’_

_Akechi: ‘’You’re inviting me over for coffee? That’s quite interesting.’’_

Ren didn’t know how to respond to that, luckily Akechi wasn’t done yet.

_Akechi: ‘’But I have to say a cup of coffee would be quite enjoyable right now. I’ll be on my way soon.’’_

‘’Yes!’’ Ren was really excited and relieved he actually managed to get Akechi over there. Now the second and most difficult phase was around the corner. Trying to get information out of Akechi without him realising what he was doing.

 

It didn’t take long for Akechi to arrive. ‘’You’re quick.’’ Ren teasingly said as he stood behind the counter to prepare their coffee.

‘’I was around.’’ Was Akechi’s only responds before he took a seat at the bar. ‘’Why did you want to see me?’’ He asked as he sat down.

A coffee cup was placed in front of Akechi. ‘’Do I really need a reason to invite someone over for coffee?’’ Akechi looked up with a slightly annoyed expression, he wasn’t having Ren’s teasing today. ‘’But you’re right, I do have other intentions.’’ Ren spoke as he made his way around the bar. ‘’I want to get to know you a bit better.’’ He finished the sentence as he sat down next to the other.

‘’Why?’’ Akechi didn’t even look up while asking, only focussing on the coffee he drank afterwards.

‘’Because I want to know the person I’m working with. I’m not asking you to tell me every little detail, but I at least need to know something.’’ Ren eyes followed the coffee cup as Akechi sat it down again.

Now finally Akechi decided to look towards the other as well. ‘’Alright then, what do you want to know about me?’’

‘’Well, what’s your life like?’’ Ren wanted to ask some general questions at first, before he moved on towards the deeper ones.

Akechi smiled a little. ‘’You should know that already. School and detective work with occasional TV stuff.’’ A more serious look appeared on his face. ‘’What do you really want to know?’’

‘’Why do you pretend like nothing is wrong, ever? You’ve broken down at this particular counter before, so I know something is up, but you never showed anywhere else.’’ Ren wondered if this had anything to do with his palace, it was more of a personal thing he needed to know.

Akechi’s expression softened. ‘’Cause no one ever likes a broken person. Wearing a mask with a smile is what keeps the world to like me.’’ He looked away slightly. ‘’Not like you will ever understand.’’

That particular comment hurt Ren. ‘’Why not?’’ He asked.

‘’Because you are free. No mask defines you. You’re unlike everyone I’ve ever met before, you might be the only person on this entire world who wouldn’t understand.’’ Another smile formed on Akechi’s face. ‘’But it doesn’t matter. It’s how I’ve always lived my life anyways.’’

‘Masks appear to have quite a significance in his life.’ Ren thought to himself. ‘’I guess you may be right.’’ Ren responded.

‘’Anything else you want to know?’’ Akechi asked. He was actually enjoying the conversation. When he came he was scared that he would be called out for anything he had done, or for his relations to Shido, but instead someone was interested in his personal life for once. It was quite relieving.

‘’what’s your home like?’’ Ren had never asked him about this, he knew the other lived alone, but that was about it.

Akechi thought for a moment. ‘’Just a small scale apartment. Nothing special.’’ He answered. ‘’But I guess no place is special at all. The whole world is just the same.’’ He added.

‘’That’s quite a depressing thing to say. Everyone has at least one place that’s somewhat special to them.’’ Ren responded. He hoped to get a location out of it.

‘’Not really. My home is just a place for my basic needs. And everywhere else is filled with other people. And all people are the same to me as well.’’ Akechi had finished his coffee by now. ‘’I think you now have at least some sort of understanding of my personal views. If you may excuse me, I have some things to attend early morning so I would prefer to go home. If you don’t have anything else you have to ask right now of course?’’

Ren was still processing the other’s previous answer. ‘’No, it’s alright.’’ They both stood up.

‘’We should do this again sometimes. I am also interested in your life as well. Text me whenever you want to speak to me again.’’ Akechi said as he walked through the door.

 

Soon Ren got messaged in the group chat, people were waiting for the results.

_Haru: ‘’So did you get the answers?’’_

_Ren: ‘’I’m close.’’_

_Makoto: ‘’What do you mean ‘close’?’’_

_Futaba: ‘’Are you meeting him again?’’_

_Makoto: ‘’We don’t have that kind of time, you know?’’_

_Ren: ‘’Yeah, I know. I have all the pieces.’’_

_Ren: ‘’I just need to get them together.’’_

_Makoto: ‘’Don’t take too long.’’_

_Ren: ‘’I know.’’_

Ren began to think. The main issue with Akechi is the location. He isn’t bound to a certain place, every location is the same to him. Ren began to try all types of locations that could possibly be it, but nothing came to his mind. He would need to discuss this with the others the next day.

The ‘What?’ was a way easier one. Akechi sees people as personalities defined but their masks.

‘’Masquerade.’’ Ren said into the nav.

‘’Candidate found, please enter a location to continue the navigation.’’

‘’If only it where that easy.’’ Ren said. ‘’I can’t help it he thinks of the whole world as the same thing.’’

‘’Candidate found, beginning navigation.’’

‘’What the hell?!’’ Ren didn’t even have the time to process what happened before the world around him changed.

He should just get out of there immediately, but he didn’t want to, he wanted to see for himself. Even when dangers were there.

Ren walked downstairs, there he found nothing was different in there, nothing beside the fact that a paper was taped onto the door.

 

_‘’Dearest phantom thieves. Reading this means you are actually trying to stealing my heart. I have no intention to hold you guys back, so I will explain how you can do this._

_There are three keys to be found somewhere in this world. Three keys that lead towards the location of the treasure. Find the keys, get the treasure. It’s really easy._

_I’m only not going to give you the locations of those keys, or the treasure. I can only tell you they are in places where at least something significant to my life took place._

_But realise my mask is not that easily broken. I have skilfully crafted it over the years, I have the most perfect one of them all._

_I am the prince of this masked ball. The one with the most perfect mask._

_Goro Akechi.’’_

 

This was going to be a long month.

As soon as Ren turned around again Akechi sat down at the bar, just like he did moments before. He looked different. His clothes were now a beautiful extravagant suit, white and red like his metaverse outfit, and he was wearing a mask to cover his entire face. Only this mask had the look of a normal face, a normal smiling face.

‘’I knew what you were up to from the moment you invited me over this evening.’’ Shadow Akechi began to speak. ‘’Although my real self isn’t believing it yet, deep down we know what you are planning to do. We are aware of this place ourselves after all.’’

Ren walked towards the shadow. ‘’Why did you come then? And why do you still let me be?’’ Ren knew he was going to be annihilated as soon as Akechi’s shadow thought to kill him, he wasn’t strong enough by himself to survive.

His shadow looked up, revealing his eyes glinting through the mask. They were in pain. ‘’Because deep down there’s still a part of us that wants you here. Even when we don’t.’’ The eyes seemed to tear up a little. ‘’We want to be free of this place.’’

‘’Then help me. This letter stated there are multiple places we need to find. Tell me about those.’’ Ren hoped he could get some information in here, so that he didn’t need to go through the troubles of trying to get through him in the real world.

Akechi’s shadow seemed in thought for a moment. ‘’I don’t know all the locations. But I do know where you can start. Get to the place where my mask shines the brightest.’’

Before Ren could ask what that meant the shadow disappeared. Ren realised he had to get out and talk to the others tomorrow, he himself wasn’t going to finish this alone.

 

‘’Where his mask shines the brightest? What the hell does that mean?’’ Ryuji asked as soon as Ren explained everything about last night.

‘’I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking.’’ Ren responded.

‘’Let’s first define the word ‘mask’ in this meaning.’’ Makoto said.

‘’It’s how he shows himself. He had a mask of just his face on him when I saw him.’’ Ren said.

Everyone was silenced for a moment when they thought, but then finally someone came with a possible solution. ‘’What about the TV station? Everyone can see him smile there.’’ Futaba said.

‘’That might actually be it!’’ Ann exclaimed.

‘’But how are we going to get there? Do we need to travel there first and then navigate the nav?’’ Haru asked.

Morgana jumped up again. ‘’We can always drive there inside the metaverse, considering the fact that this palace cover the entire ground.’’

They all agreed and got ready to get in.

The same note as Ren spoke about was still taped onto the door. The others quickly glanced at it. ‘’He really does see himself as the prince of a ball then, interesting.’’ Yusuke said under his breath.

Then they all got outside.

The streets were all turned into brightly lit hallways. Every human being clothed into beautiful clothes. Everyone was wearing a mask that covered their entire face, with a smile painted upon it.

‘’That does remind me, why aren’t we wearing our masks right now?’’

‘’I didn’t even realise.’’

‘’That’s because he sees us as the only people who don’t hide behind masks anymore. At least, that was what he told me before.’’ Ren explained. He hadn’t even realised he wasn’t wearing one last night, but now that he thought about it, it did seem logical.

They walked towards some bigger streets, exploring the environmental changes as much as they could. The people were real realistic, which could be because Akechi was always looking at the people around him. Every mask they wore were the same, only small details were changed.

Soon they made their way towards the TV station. After traveling father into the world nothing was different from before, Akechi truly did saw the entire world the same way.

‘’It’s kind of sad, not even having a place you think of differently.’’ Makoto commented as they were driving around on the streets.

Ryuji reacted. ‘’He’s just selfish. Taking the entire world as his palace.’’

‘’Ryuji! That’s just mean!’’ Ann exclaimed.

‘’He does have some places that has at least some sort of significance to him though, albeit due to the things he had gone through there.’’ Futaba said.

Ren remained silent during the entirety of the conversation, still thinking back about those eyes behind the mask. The eyes in pain. Akechi had been through so much. They had to do this this way, there was no other choice besides helping him. Even when it was a gamble. Even when they might not have the time.

 

-

 

_‘’But what about our time? Three separate locations plus an end location? That’s going to cost us way too much.’’ Makoto said as soon as Ren was done explaining what he had encountered in Akechi’s palace the other day._

_‘’It will take a day each of those locations. Plus occasional nights to get to know the location of the next place the night before. But I might be able to fit those in alongside Sae’s palace infiltrations.’’ Ren was counting the days. It wasn’t impossible, he was certain of it, but success wasn’t very likely either._

_‘’So three days in there, plus a day for the forth and another to steal the actual treasure?’’ Futaba summarised the numbers. ‘’Five days in total, if we go quickly.’’_

_‘’Four. We steal the treasure as soon as we get into the final location.’’ Another risk coming from Ren’s mind, but they just had to._

_Everyone was thinking for a moment. ‘’What if we fail?’’ Haru finally asked._

_‘’If we fail I die. We might all die, but I’ll be gone for sure.’’ Ren admitted. Doing this could mean they also failed Sae’s palace, therefore screwing up everything and letting Akechi kill him. Ren knew the consequences, but he was determined to do it. ‘’But if we succeed we have saved him. Our original plan only saves me, but I don’t want that. I want to help him as well.’’_

_‘’Alright then, I’m in.’’ Haru was the first to agree, which shocked everyone in the room slightly. If there was one person who might not agree to help Akechi it should’ve been her._

_But since even she was ready to help, everyone else didn’t see another reason to protest. ‘’Let’s hope this gamble turns out right.’’ Morgana said._

 

-

 

The TV station was indeed a place different from the others. The building shined brightly and people came from all directions to enter.

‘’It appears we are at the right place.’’ Makoto said as she stopped the car.

‘’We should look around first.’’ Morgana said.

‘’Hey you there!!’’ A guard yelled at the group as soon as they gotten near the building.

Everyone froze in motion, beside Ren. ‘’Yes, what’s wrong?’’ He calmly asked as he walked towards the shadow.

‘’Custom night isn’t tonight, you guys aren’t wearing the right clothing at all.’’ The guard seemed kind of calm, just like they were other visitors.

‘’Oh, I’m sorry. We’ve totally messed up the date then. Do you have any recommendations for us to get us new outfits?’’ Ren reacted.

‘’He’s actually doing this?’’ The group were whispering towards each other. ‘’That’s our Joker for you.’’

‘’Well, the shop around the corner has some really nice looking ones. Even with matching masks.’’ The guards sounded friendly.

Ren smiled at him. ‘’Alright, thank you! We’ll be back shortly then.’’ He waved at the guards before he walked back towards the group. ‘’Let’s go shopping guys!’’ He sounded excited, way too excited.

‘’You’re really enjoying this, aren’t you?’’ Morgana asked. Ren simply smiled in response as he made his way towards the shop.

 

‘’Ah, Ren Amamiya. Our master told us you were going to visit.’’ A voice inside the shop said as soon as the group got in.

A small shopkeeper, with an extraordinary golden mask made their way towards them. ‘’I’ve prepared special outfits for all of you, including a beautiful mask of course!’’ The shopkeeper pointed towards a set of mannequins, every one had a different outfit stalled upon it. And everyone of the group immediately knew which one belonged to who.

‘’We were being expected?’’ Ren asked, he didn’t anticipate Akechi’s mind to have outfits ready for them at a random shadow shop, so this was quite the surprise for him.

‘’Of course. The prince told me yesterday that you would come around. I believe he even told the guard to send you here. But no need to think about it now, get changed!’’

Soon everyone was changed. All the girls now wore beautiful long dresses that almost seemed designed so that they could still move freely. And the guys now wore the most Extravagant suits they could possibly think of. Their masks weren’t the same as their originals, they now wore the same full face ones everyone did. Only these were decorated with colours and lines to match their outfits.

‘’I’m not so sure about this.’’ Ryuji said after he was done dressing, he was never one to suit such a fancy look, so this made him kind of uncomfortable.

‘’I like it a lot! This dress is gorgeous. And I can still move in it as freely as with my original outfit!’’ Ann was excited about her clothes. She was dressed in a puffy red dress which went down all the way to her ankles. There weren’t any sleeves on the dress, but it seemed to stay in place no matter what she did.

‘’I do have to agree, this is quite an enjoyable change.’’ Makoto had a dark grey dress going till right under her knees, one side had a small cut in which allowed her to move more as well while it being a tighter dress. Her shoulders were bare, but long loose glittering sleeves trailed around her arms.

Haru only now exited her dressing room. ‘’I haven’t worn such a design in a long time, it’s really beautiful.’’ Her dress seemed almost as fluffy as her hair. Soft pink colours in a diagonal line from just above one knee all the way down to just above her other ankle. Dark purple details and ribbons covering the dress itself. The top part consisted out of a V-line halter. Pieces of cloth hang from her back all the way to her bracelets, giving her an almost angelic look.

‘’All of you guys look so beautiful!’’ Futaba exclaimed. She was wearing a short black dress with green leggings underneath. A jacket stopping just above her waist atop of it.

The guys were all silent for a moment. They had seen the outfits as they were displayed, but seeing them on the girls was a whole different thing. They themselves had nothing but fancy suits in different colours with only minor details distinguishing them from one another. Yusuke’s was dark blue and had sparkly white details accompanying him. Ryuji’s was plain grey with some metal implemented. And Ren’s was just black with red.

‘’Can’t I wear a dress as well?’’ Ren asked. Almost everyone burst into laughing after hearing him say that. They all knew he would actually do so if he had the chance.

‘’I’m sorry, but I don’t have any in your size ready. This will have to do.’’ The shopkeeper said as they came around the corner. ‘’I’m glad every outfit seems to suit you guys. Don’t forget to put on your mask and enjoy!’’ They said as they walked away again.

‘’I guess we should go to the ball then.’’ Ren said. Them they started to move out again.

 

‘’I see you have found the shop.’’ The same guard spoke to Ren again as they returned to the station.

‘’Yes, we did, thank you for recommending it.’’ Ren responded. He was now wearing his new mask already, but it was clear that he was still smiling the same way he did before.

The guard grabbed something from his pocket and handed it to Ren. ‘’Here’s the map to this place. Try not to get lost.’’ Then the guard walked away.

 

The group walked through the main entrance, where they found themselves in a grand hall filled with nicely dressed people. ‘’This place is way bigger than I remember!’’ Ryuji exclaimed.

‘’Well, apparently Akechi sees this place bigger than it is.’’

‘’I don’t like the mask though, it’s suffocating me.’’ Futaba said. Everyone agreed in an instant. The masks covered their entire faces, so breathing was kind of difficult.

‘’Do we really need to wear them?’’ Haru asked.

Ryuji had already put the mask off by then. ‘’Nothing happened so far, so I guess it’s all right!’’ He said. Everyone followed his lead.

But then voices around were being heard, and people began to turn towards them. ‘’Look at those people!’’

‘’They don’t belong here.’’

Some guards made their way towards the group. ‘’Intruders!’’ They yelled.

‘’We’re in trouble. There are too many. Run!’’ Ren yelled. The whole group soon followed him into a small hallway.

Luckily they found a safe room fairly close. ‘’I guess that wasn’t such a good idea after all.’’  Makoto said as they all sat down to regain their breath again.

‘’It does make sense though.’’ Yusuke said. Everyone looked up towards him, questioning what he meant. ‘’A mask like this is supposed to be suffocating, isn’t it?’’ He added.

Ren was lost in thought for a moment. He never realised it was this painful. ‘’I guess so, if that’s how Akechi experiences it.’’ He eventually said.

‘’But how are we going to conquer this then? We can’t wear them all the time, we wouldn’t be able to breathe.’’ Ann asked.

Morgana smiled, as if he had the most brilliant idea. ‘’We don’t wear them all the time of course.’’ He said. Everyone was confused, but he continued to talk. ‘’They will only attack us if they see us without the mask. If we aren’t being seen, we don’t need to wear it.’’

‘’What if we are being seen without?’’ Makoto asked.

‘’We smile. The fakest smile you can produce. And if that doesn’t work we will have to fight the guards.’’ Morgana responded.

The plan was clear. They had to move through the busy hallways slowly to both not get any unwanted attention and to steady their breath. And when they were alone, either in safe rooms or quiet halls, they could move freely.

‘’Where would the key be located though? Isn’t that why we were here?’’ Ann asked after they finished their mask strategy.

Ren put the map on the table for everyone to look. ‘’I would say the filming studio. ‘Where his mask shines the brightest.’ right?’’ Makoto reacted.

‘’That sounds like it should be right. The map also confirms it.’’ Morgana said. ‘’It seems almost like a maze.’’

‘’Well, the real life thing wasn’t much different. So many hallways.’’ Ryuji said.

‘’Let’s go and see what type of challenge he has for us.’’ Ren said while he was smiling, fake on purpose.

Soon they all moved out. Straight into the maze. The maze of fake smiles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're getting right into it already!
> 
> If people are interested, I have also made some small drawings to show how everyone actually looks right now. I'll be updating the map as the story progresses, but for now you can find everyone's fancy outfit here:  
> https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1rjcU11BgbE0rAVOIyC9XZu71YpGD4jzr?usp=sharing
> 
> I'm not sure when I'll be posting the second chapter, but knowing myself it'll be soon!!


	2. The maze of fake smiles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have actually settled for an updating sceduele for once!!!
> 
> I'll update once a week! (No specific time though.)
> 
> It's kind of funny to think about that I'm the type of person that needs a sceduele not to actually keep posting, but to withhold me from posting every day for a while and then figuring out I don't have any motivation to write for some days...
> 
> This should keep that from happening though. 
> 
> I'll stop rambling now, here's the new chapter!!

‘’We’ve been walking here for almost an eternity now!’’ Ryuji began to complain. It was true though. Every time they thought they found the right path it turned out to be another dead end.

They did end up in a second safe room, this one was only located on the other side of the maze, nowhere closer to the centre they were heading. ‘’Let’s rest for a moment to think about it.’’ Ren said.

‘’The map doesn’t even show a clear way in, does it?’’ Yusuke asked as they were all looking down at the map they were given yet again.

‘’If it did we wouldn’t be so lost right now.’’ Futaba reacted.

‘’There must be some way in. Do we need to change his cognition first or something?’’ Makoto wondered.

Ann shook her head at that idea. ‘’That shouldn’t be the case. He has already seen us there before, so he should have the cognition we could get in there.’’

‘’We are clearly missing something.’’ Morgana said.

Everyone was lost. Until Haru came with a proposal. ‘’Can’t we just ask the people here how to get in? Someone must know something, right?’’ She said.

No one has really thought about that before. They were all certain they just had to find the way themselves, the people were all dangerous after all. ‘’Maybe that could work, but we must be very careful.’’ Morgana said.

‘’You guys should stay here. I’ll get someone to talk.’’ Ren stood up to go.

Makoto only grabbed his wrist before he managed to get out completely. ‘’What do you think you’re doing? You know this place is the most dangerous we’ve ever been in. You can’t just get out on your own.’’ She said.

‘’It’s too dangerous to go with all of us. And I would like to say that I’m the most competent in shadow negotiations.’’ Ren said as he reclaimed his arm. ‘’And besides, the persons out will have to wear the mask for a long time, it’s better if less people get to do so to minimalize the risk.’’

No one had anything to add anymore. Their leader was set on this plan, which meant that there was no force strong enough to change his mind. ‘’Just be careful.’’ Makoto said. Then Ren walked out.

 

He found a guard around the corner. ‘Time to put on this stupid mask again.’ He thought to himself as he did so.

‘’Hello there, could you perhaps help me with something?’’ Ren walked towards the guard like he belonged there.

The guard turned around, it had the same mask as the one by the entrance. ‘’Of course. What is it?’’ He answered.

‘’I was wondering how I got into the filming studio of this building. I’ve been wandering here for ages, but I can’t seem to find it yet.’’ Ren began to feel the effects of the lack of oxygen, but he managed himself.

‘’You must be new here. The only way in is with permission.’’ The guard answered.

‘’And where may I get that permission?’’ Ren asked. ‘Please don’t tell me we really do have to change his real life cognition. We don’t have the time for that.’ He thought to himself.

The guard handed him a small flyer. ‘’It’s only for VIP members. You can become one by being chosen by the prince or by winning one of the prizes. This flyer should explain how you can compete during this ball.’’ The guard answered.

‘’Thank you so much!’’ Ren said. Then he walked away, now barely still conscious cause of his lack of breathing.

He managed to make it to the safe room, but as soon as he got in he collapsed. ‘’Dude! Are you alright?’’ Ryuji yelled as he saw his leader literally fall into the room.

‘’Get that mask of him!’’

‘’And get him to lay somewhere comfortable!’’

The whole group was slightly panicking, but after they established he was still alive they calmed down a bit. ‘’What’s this?’’ Futaba asked as she saw a piece of paper inside of Ren’s hand. She grabbed and read it. ‘’A ballroom dancing competition? Knowledge quiz? What are these?’’

‘’The contestants compete in a team of two, the winners will be granted access to the VIP maze.’’ Haru read.

‘’So this is what gets us in? Stupid games.’’ Ryuji said.

‘’We will have to do them in order to get through. Let’s decide who’s going to do which one while we wait for Ren to regain his consciousness.’’ Morgana said.

‘’There are four different ones. Let’s first start with the knowledge quiz. Makoto is certainly in.’’ Ann said. ‘’Futaba is pretty smart too, do you want to be into this one?’’

‘’I guess that should work.’’ Futaba answered.

‘’Next off is, the Ballroom dancing.’’ Haru said. ‘’I have some experience, so I guess I can do it.’’

‘’Me too. Dancing is an extensively beautiful form of art, I have studied it well.’’ Yusuke added.

Half of the places were gone already. ‘’Well then. Now we still have the Beauty contest and the Stamina course.’’ Morgana said. ‘’Ann should obviously do the contest.’’

‘’I say Ren joins her.’’ Yusuke said. ‘’He’s the most aesthetically pleasing of the ones left after all.’’

‘’That sound about right.’’ Ryuji added.

But Haru had something to add. ‘’Uhm guys, it says here that the Beauty contest only is for females. Maybe we should switch some of us up.’’ Everyone was thinking about a solution, but besides this problem the rest was perfect.

‘’What are you talking about so loudly?’’ Ren asked as soon as he woke up with the most intense headache.

Everyone turned silent and turned around. They explained their current worries. ‘’So everything should be fixed if we get me a nice dress?’’ Ren said.

The expressions on everyone’s faces were priceless. No one had thought about that yet. ‘’W-we should go back to the shop then. Maybe the shopkeeper can help.’’ Makoto said.

Soon they made their way out again.

 

‘’I told you before I don’t have any in your size.’’ The shopkeeper said as soon as Ren asked for a dress again.

But that wasn’t going to scare them away. ‘’How long will it take till you do then?’’ Ren asked.

The keeper looked up, surprised. ‘’You’re actually serious about this. I’ll see what I can do.’’ Then the keeper walked towards the back of the store. ‘’You’re in luck kid!’’ They yelled from the back.

Soon they walked back into the shop with a beautiful black dress in their arms. ‘’Try this on.’’ The keeper said. ‘’I’ll get you the proper tools as well. If you’re going to walk around in this, I at least want you to pretend to be a woman, not a guy in a dress.’’

No one was ready for what they were about to see next. This wasn’t just a normal dress, this one was meant to be sexy. Ren walked out of the dressing room, fully dressed up. It was a long dress with cut-ins on both sides of his legs, starting at the top of the hips. The top part was a cut-in as well, all the way down to the bellybutton, only covered by bands which held the two sides together. He was also wearing long gloves and stockings covering his arms and legs. His hair seemed to have extensions attached to it which perfectly matched his own hair, a little too perfectly.

Ren wondered why Akechi had a dress like this in his palace. The dress in itself was kind of similar to the one Sae was wearing in her palace. He might had found his inspiration for this particular dress. Somewhere Ren had the feeling Akechi had thought of Ren in such type of dress after seeing it, therefore creating an actual one.

But this was nothing but speculation and a bit of false hope. Ren realised he should move on, maybe thinking about this some more later.

‘’I never expected to say this, but you look hot dude.’’ Ryuji said. He had no idea how else to respond to it, no one did.

Yusuke let out a small chuckle. ‘’I should ask you to model for me some time, it suits you.’’

‘’Let’s just get back inside. The contests are about to start.’’ Makoto said.

 

Inside everyone went their separate ways, they all had to sign up at a different place. ‘’Let’s go Ren!’’ Ann said as they walked towards the beauty contest stand.

They were told the contest only consisted out of two parts. A part with all the contestants and one with your duo. The podium part with everyone was close to start after they arrived.

‘’They are so many beautiful woman here!’’ Ann said. ‘’I wonder if we even make a chance.

‘’No need to worry. It all depends on the jury right now, worrying only troubles your skin.’’ Ren reacted. He had a feeling the jury were going to be in their favour, but there was no way to know for certain until they saw.

But he ended up being right. As they all walked onto the stage Ren made sure to look at the jury booth as much as possible. And prince Akechi himself was a part of it. Now everything was going to be easy. He just hoped the others were having just a good time as he had.

 

‘’Well, that was easy.’’ Futaba said after they finished the quizzes. They had instantly defeated every single other contestant in there. No one even stood a chance.

‘’It was indeed a lot easier than I had thought, all the questions were just in our realm of knowledge as well.’’ Makoto added. ‘’Shall we go and see how the others are doing?’’

‘’Let’s head to the beauty contest! The others are probably done quickly as well, but I believe that one is going on till longer.’’ Futaba was already running away.

‘’You’ll get out of breath!!!’’ Makoto yelled as she walked after her. Then they walked towards the beauty contest hall.

 

‘’You are indeed quite the talented dancer.’’ Yusuke commented. ‘’Seeing you move like that truly was beautiful.’’

Haru blushed slightly in response. ‘’I wasn’t anything special. It was you who let me through the entire thing, I haven’t danced in a long time after all.’’ She stood up from the seat they were seated on. ‘’We did manage to win. Shall we go and see how the others are doing?’’

‘’I would like to see the beauty contest. A room filled with the most beautiful people sounds perfect.’’ Yusuke said. Then they walked away towards the hall as well.

 

‘’I never knew you were this strong Mona.’’ Ryuji said as he lay out of breath on the ground. ‘’I’m glad though, otherwise there was no way we could have done this.’’

‘’You are just weak.’’ Morgana still stood seemingly not even bothered at all. ‘’Let’s go to the beauty contest hall. They must be the only ones that aren’t done yet.’’

 

Everyone met each other at the entrance of the hall. After they have told each other about what had happened with them a voice was being heard.

‘’Dear ladies and gentlemen. We have a slight modification in our contest schedule. Our duo contest has been cancelled. Instead we will be holding a special individual contest in which each couple can choose one person to compete. The only rule they have to obey is to get onto the stage without their mask.’’

‘’Oh my God.’’ Makoto reacted as soon as the announcement was over.

Some of the group were confused. ‘’What’s wrong with this?’’ Futaba asked.

‘’You know what happened when one of us tries to show themselves without a mask. The guards will interfere instantly.’’ Makoto explained. ‘’This is extremely problematic.’’

‘’Hey guys. I guess you’ve heard the announcement.’’ Ann came walking towards the group. ‘’I also guess you know who’s the one to do this.’’

‘’Of course it’s going to be him.’’ Ryuji reacted. No one even doubted it for a single second.

‘’I am supposed to stay behind the scenes during, but Ren asked me to tell you something.’’ Ann said. ‘’He said not to worry at all. Akechi himself apparently is in the jury, so he believes there’s no way he can lose.’’

‘’That does sound like reasonable.’’ Yusuke reacted. ‘’Akechi does has a certain fondness on our leader after all.’’

‘’Let’s hope he’s right.’’ Haru said.

Then Ann returned backstage, just before the last event of the contest was about to start.

 

Ren wasn’t worried in the slightest. All the games were in their advantage. Unlike some other places this one actually wanted them to win. And to have Akechi actually be in the jury there was no way he was going to lose. It was his turn to get onto the stage. He put off his mask and put on a smile. If he didn’t smile he might not survive. He knew that, that was the only way he could still screw this up.

But another unexpected happening was about to occur.

‘’Stop there for a moment!’’ A voice from the jury table was being heard. Ren immediately recognised the voice, everyone did.

Ren stopped his movements to look up and see Akechi has stood up. He walked all the way towards the stage, no one saying a single word. As he now stood right next to Ren he finally said something. ‘’I like this one. Bring her to my place.’’ He said towards the nearing guard.

‘’But what about the rules? Only ones with a permit are allowed to enter the VIP parts.’’ The guards answered. Even though Akechi was supposed to be the ruler, the guards were still hesitant to break the rules to follow his orders.

Akechi took a moment to inspect Ren up close, admiring his appearance. ‘’Then I suppose I have to call her the winner then.’’ He now looked Ren straight into his eyes. ‘’Congratulations, you’ve won the beauty competition.’’ He said.

Ren was still smiling, but it was getting more and more difficult for him. ‘’Thank you, my prince.’’ He said as he even took a small bow.

‘’I’ll trust you take her to me soon. I’ll be going now.’’ With those words Akechi walked off.

‘’I suppose that marks the end of our beauty contest. Congratulations!’’ The announcer said.

Ren was taken to the back to get his mask back before the guard took him to Akechi. He wasn’t allowed to stay and speak towards the others, but he managed to talk to Ann for a second. ‘’He isn’t dangerous. Get going towards the private area without me, I’ll be meeting with you there soon.’’ He said to her before he walked off.

 

‘’I didn’t know you were actually going to be wearing that.’’ Akechi said as the guard who was supposed to escort Ren left the two. ‘’But I guess that was the only way.’’

Ren put off his mask and smiled. ‘’Of course you would’ve loved to see me wear this. But why did you ask to meet me here?’’ He wasn’t certain of the other’s intentions right now, so he was just going to ask and see for himself.

‘’I wanted to warn you for what was ahead.’’ Akechi answered. ‘’There’s another me in this building. One from a few months before.’’

Ren was confused. ‘’What do you mean ‘Another you’?’’

‘’I might be the ruler of this entire place, the TV station is being controlled by another entity. This entity isn’t as co-operative as I am. The main reason no one is allowed in the private chambers without permission is because he’s here. This is his terrain.’’ Akechi almost sounded scared of this other person, even though it was supposed to be himself.

‘’What does he do around here? And where’s the key?’’ Ren needed viable information in order to actually make use of this conversation. Although talking to Akechi is nice, he would prefer talking to his real self, not his shadow counterpart.

Akechi took something from the table in front of him. ‘’This is a complete accurate map of the inner layers. As for what he does. He lurks around in the maze most of the time. But he doesn’t fight. If you encounter he will call loads of guards.’’

‘’So he’s just scared.’’ Ren concluded. ‘’The key should still be located at the centre then.’’

Akechi took a moment to reply. ‘’I suppose so. Even I have never been there.’’

Ren took some time to take everything into consideration. They had to travel the entirety of the maze while being wary about the other Akechi lurking around. The key would most likely be in the middle. ‘’Alright then. Thank you for telling me.’’

‘’No problem. I told you, me and the real me want you here. The others only don’t.’’ Akechi said. ‘’But it’s time for you to go. Or do you need to get changed first? The dress looks awesome on you, but I doubt you can move freely in it.’’ He pointed towards the chair across the room, where his original suit was laying.

Ren wanted to argue that he could manage, but he knew it was going to be too dangerous. So he got changed and got out.

‘’See you again soon I hope.’’ Akechi said as Ren walked out of the room.

 

‘’There you are! We were starting to get worried.’’ Futaba yelled as soon as she saw Ren walk towards the group.

Ren wasn’t sure how long he was gone, but it might have been a little too long. ‘’I’ve got some new info.’’ He said. They all agreed to get towards a safe room to discuss the matter.

After Ren had explained everything they began to form their plan. They were going to head into the maze and follow the map entirely. If they ever were to encounter the Akechi lurking around they weren’t going to try their chances, they were going to run. They couldn’t allow themselves to get into any unnecessary fights. Especially when they were low on oxygen all the time.

The first few layers of the maze were fairly easy. There was nothing wrong. But then they saw. They saw another entity roaming the halls. It looked like Akechi, even more than the one they have encountered before. He was wearing his school uniform and had a red mask to cover his entire face. He also had a red glow around him.

‘’Let’s get out of here!’’ Morgana said. They all turned the other way, really wanting to avoid the person roaming around.

They never met him again. Soon they made their way towards the central room, the room where the key was supposed to be located. ‘Filming studio’ a tag next to the door said.

Everyone walked in, not sure of what they were about to find. Not sure if they would survive. Only nothing happened. The room itself was dark, but it looked just like the actual studio. There was a small light located in the middle. A shining key.

‘’There it is!’’ Ann exclaimed. They have been walking around for far too long. So to actually get to this point was really exciting for everyone.

Ren was cautious as he went to retrieve the key. Akechi was one to have sudden surprises up his sleeves. As soon as he grabbed the key all the lights turned on, and an illusion of Akechi appeared.

‘’Is that the one from the maze? Should we run?’’ Haru asked.

‘’Wait for a moment, he doesn’t seem to notice us.’’ Morgana reacted.

Everyone stood and watched as their little scene began to play out.

 

It was just like a talk show. Akechi being the star. Only his true thoughts were being heard as well, and they were devastating.

 

_‘’Smile, smile, smile, smile, smile.’’_

_‘’They won’t like you if you don’t pretend!’’_

_‘’No one will ever like you for who you are.’’_

_‘’Smile, smile, smile!’’_

_‘’Can’t I just die? It’s way easier.’’_

_‘’Smile! SMILE!!’’_

 

And then the show was over, darkening the entire room once again.

‘’Oh my God.’’ Makoto said. No one really know what else to say beside meaningless exclaims. They returned to the main entrance in complete silence.

As soon as they were back they finally began to talk. ‘’So, that happened.’’ Ryuji said as soon as they were outside, save from the guards and any other thing they could encounter.

‘’I never realised his mind could’ve been so dark.’’ Makoto said. ‘’Are this actually his thoughts during a filming?!’’

‘’Probably.’’ Morgana reacted. He himself wasn’t sure how to respond to this. He had always seen Akechi as evil, but now he wasn’t so certain anymore.

And no one knew what to think anymore. ‘’I think it’s best to leave her for now.’’ Haru recommended.

‘’I agree. There’s no place we can go to after all. I guess I first have to figure out where the next location might be.’’ Ren added. He knew how he was going to do it, he only needed to get into another talk with the real life Akechi. But there was no way he was going to get the answer as easy as last time.

They drove back towards the café before leaving the palace. Soon everyone went their separate ways.

‘’When are you going to talk to Akechi again?’’ Morgana asked.

‘’As soon as possible. I don’t want him to suffer like this for much longer.’’ Ren answered.

Then the night fell. He was way too tired, but he couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened. About Akechi’s voice yelling to himself. Ren had known Akechi had some real issues, but he had never thought they were this extensive. Just what had they gotten themselves into now?

 

-

 

Akechi was just reading a book at this new restaurant he wanted to try out, the place had a casual feel to it, so he really felt relaxed at the place.

But then his head suddenly began to hurt intensely, and voices went through his head.

_‘’No one likes you. They never will.’’_

_‘’Keep smiling, it’s the only thing you’ll ever can.’’_

He grabbed his head in response to the painful headaches. He had never experienced this before, but it hurt. It hurt a lot, both physically and mentally.

When everything was over he wasn’t in the mood to stay at the restaurant anymore, he needed to go home, he needed to be alone.

As he entered his home he saw that he had gotten a message.

_Ren: ‘’Hey, do you have time to talk again soon? Whenever you’re available is fine.’’_

Akechi didn’t know how his timing could’ve been so perfect. He almost asked Ren to talk right then, since he was kind of in the mood. But in the end he decided against it, talking tonight might result into him oversharing too much. And that’s something he didn’t want at all.

_Akechi: ‘’I’m free tomorrow night if that’s all right with you?’’_

Ren’s reply came almost immediately after.

_Ren: ‘’Okay! See you then. At Leblanc again?’’_

_Akechi: ‘’Of course, I love the coffee.’’_

Although Akechi didn’t want to admit it, he felt a lot better after this short conversation. Enough to fall asleep somewhat peacefully that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For some (obvious) reasons the Drive folder has been updated with some new pictures, which you can find here:  
> https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1rjcU11BgbE0rAVOIyC9XZu71YpGD4jzr?usp=sharing
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well and I'll see you guys again next week for the next location!!
> 
> ''Where his mask began to form.''


	3. A past filled with pain

Ren let the others know about his plans with Akechi. They were actual happy for it to continue so soon. Everyone who was previously doubting whether they should do this palace was now just as motivated to continue. Hearing Akechi’s thoughts like that did something to all of them.

The next day Ren couldn’t really concentrate on anything, he was nervous. Now the time came where he needed to pry into Akechi’s private life without him suspecting anything. But he was somewhat glad Akechi was so soon to meet him as well, maybe he actually did want to talk himself. Maybe he did want to share.

As soon as evening fell Ren was pacing nervously in his room. Morgana had gone away again, so that the two of them had at least some privacy.

It didn’t take that long for Akechi to arrive. As he walked through the doorway Ren noticed that he actually looked a bit nervous himself, which relieved him a bit in return.

‘’Welcome back. I’ll get you your coffee.’’ Ren said as he smiled kindly. He hoped that this would lighten the mood a bit, things would most likely become much heavy soon after all.

Akechi smiled back as he went to sit at the same place as before. ‘’Thank you.’’ He simply said.

‘’How was your day?’’ Ren asked. Small talk was the only way he could think of to keep the awkward silence away.

‘’Just like most others I guess. Although I must say I have been a bit absent-mindly during classes.’’ Akechi answered honestly.

Ren had finished making the coffee and placed a cup in front of Akechi. ‘’I guess you just couldn’t wait to see me again, right?’’ He said teasingly. Soon he went to sit beside Akechi again.

‘’That might actually be it. I can’t deny that I was actually somewhat happy to get a message from you yesterday. I was about to sent you one as well.’’ Akechi reacted before he took a sip of his coffee.

‘’Oh, really?’’ Ren smiled again, before his expression changed completely. ‘’What happened?’’ He asked, his face now all serious.

Akechi looked up in surprise. ‘’Why would something had happened? I could’ve just wanted to talk to you, right?’’ He asked.

‘’You would never engage contact without something happening. You’re a way too private person for that.’’ Ren said. He felt like he had changed something in Akechi’s cognition when they took the first key, he wasn’t sure what, but something must’ve happened.

Akechi took some time to think before he replied. Ren was completely right, and there was no way they were going to be able to hold a conversation without telling him about it. But he wasn’t sure as to how to say it. ‘’I guess you’re right.’’ He simply said, not knowing how to continue.

‘’Then tell me. I’m here to listen to you when you need it and right now you look like you need to get something off your chest badly.’’ Ren said.

Akechi smiled. ‘’Alright then. Last night I was visiting a small restaurant when I suddenly got struck with a painful headache, accompanied by voices.’’ He explained. ‘’The voices belonged to me, they told me to smile. That no one would like me if I didn’t.’’

This was precisely as Ren had anticipated, but even then he wasn’t certain of how to respond. ‘’I’m sorry to hear that.’’ He said, his voice filled with slight pain. ‘’I know you might not believe me, but I still like you right now, even when you aren’t smiling.’’

Akechi looked up, his eyes starting to fill with tears. ‘’Really?’’ He asked.

‘’Really.’’ Ren said as he put a hand on Akechi’s shoulder, reassuring him as best as he could while remaining his distance.

There were a few moments of silence before Akechi began to speak again. ‘’No one has ever said that to me before.’’ He said.

‘’How long have you been hiding your true self then?’’ Ren asked. Even though he really felt for the other right now, he needed to get information out of him as well.

‘’Since middle school most likely. There I began to realise no one would like me for who I am.’’ Akechi saw the questioning look in Ren’s eyes, which somehow made him overshare another fact about it. ‘’It’s pretty close to my school now, but I still got lucky to not have many people coming to the same high school though.’’

Was the middle school going to be the next place? Ren didn’t know for certain, but there was no way he was going to get much more out of him as well. ‘’That’s at least some luck I suppose.’’ He was uncertain as of how to continue.

Luckily for him Akechi was done with this subject completely. ‘’So, how was your day then?’’ He asked.

‘’Well, classes were boring as usual and I spent the afternoon reading. Not much going on there.’’ Ren had other things on his mind to be focussing on, so he wasn’t even able to do much himself.

Akechi’s eyes lightened up a little again. ‘’I see.’’ He said. Then he drank some more of his coffee.

The both of them spent some time chatting about things, making sure not to bring up anything that could bring the mood down again before Akechi finished his coffee and stood up. ‘’I would love to stay and chat for a bit longer, but I have to get up early in the morning again, so I have to get on my way home.’’ He said.

Ren was actually quite sad to hear that. He was having a great time just talking with Akechi about everyday subjects. ‘’I understand. I hope we can talk like this again some time again though. This was fun.’’

‘’I agree. This certainly was quite enjoyable.’’ Akechi said. ‘’See you later then.’’ Then he walked out.

 

_Ren: ‘’I think I got it.’’_

_Ryuji: ‘’Really? Already?!’’_

_Futaba: ‘’What is it?’’_

_Ren: ‘’His middle school I believe.’’_

_Ann: ‘’What’s the name of the school?’’_

_Ren: ‘’I don’t know. He said it was rather close to his school now though.’’_

_Futaba: ‘’Getting the location would be easy then, I’ll get to it.’’_

_Ren: ‘’Thanks Futaba.’’_

_Ann: ‘’That’s good news. I guess we will hear from you when we will get back in.’’_

_Ryuji: ‘’Yeah, we’ll be waiting Ren!’’_

Ren didn’t take too long before returning to Akechi’s palace, since he knew time was running out already. He did take one day to go to Sae’s palace and another to rest up a bit. But no more time would go to waste. They were going to the palace today and they were going to finish the second location as well.

‘’Have you figured out the location of the school Futaba?’’ Ann asked as soon as they all gathered.

Futaba showed everyone her laptop, where a map was being seen. ‘’Of course I did. It’s quite a tiny school full of troubled children, quite the contrary to his high school if I say so myself.’’ Futaba explained. ‘’It’s quite easy to get there as well. I’ve already told the route to Makoto though, so we will surely get there with ease.’’

Soon the group entered the metaverse again.

‘’Do we need to wear those other outfits again?’’ Ann asked as soon as they entered. They had stalled the outfits in the room in Leblanc in order to find them back again.

‘’I don’t think so, but we can at least bring them to be safe I suppose.’’ Ren reacted. Although he kind of wanted to get changed again, he knew this part probably wouldn’t need it anymore. And the dress had stayed behind with Akechi, so the biggest fun was gone already.

Soon they did departure towards their new challenge, which was without a doubt was going to be much harder than the last.

The school was still brightly lit, but the colours were more faded than the previous location. It all felt a bit darker in general, but nothing to feel really uncomfortable about yet.

‘’Should we just head in? There’s no one outside besides children?’’ Makoto asked. No one knew what to expect from this place, since it was so different from the last.

Ren looked around for a moment. ‘’That does seem like the best option to continue. Let’s see what this is all about.’’

‘’I-I don’t like it here.’’ Futaba said. She has had some bad experiences in her school life as well, and alongside the gloom atmosphere this place re-awakened all of those memories again.

Ren put a hand on her shoulder. ‘’It’s going to be okay. We’re all here now.’’ He reassured her. She simply nodded in response before they moved towards the entrance.

The children were al whispering, but no one could understand what they were saying. It was obvious every word was a negative one, the feelings they left made that clear. Inside of the building it was also the same.

‘’Do we have any idea where to go?’’ Ann asked after they were wandering the hallways for some time. She didn’t want to walk around like that for much longer, no one did.

‘’There has to be a place where he had some particular memories, right?’’ Ryuji responded.

Everyone stood and thought for a moment, then Futaba spoke up. ‘’Try the bathroom.’’ She simply stated. Everyone looked at her in confusion, so she explained. ‘’The bathroom is like a universal safe space, a place where you can be alone. I’ve spent there many hours of my time in school as well.’’

It took a moment, but eventually Ren reacted. ‘’Alright then, let’s go and check.’’ He smiled one last time towards Futaba before heading off.

It turned out she was right. As they all stood outside of the bathroom the sound of soft sobbing could be heard from inside. The group hesitated before getting in, not wanting to see any more hurt already.

Inside they found a child, most likely a first year middle schooler, crying on the bathroom floor. The tears were coloured like blood. ‘’Akechi?’’ Ren got on his knees to get the child’s attention. It clearly was Akechi, the hair colour was the same. He only didn’t even move from hearing his name. He remained still, only moving cause of his crying.

‘’It’s no use, he’s nothing but an image. Just like the one at the studio.’’ Morgana said. But just at that moment Akechi looked up, revealing his face. His hair was different, he now actually had a long bang on one side of his face, almost covering his eye. The rest of his hair was shorter than he had now. His eyes were dark, almost no life left in them, his face covered in bloody tears.

‘’Can you hear me?’’ Ren tried again, hoping for an answer.

And he did get one this time. ‘’Who are you? Why are you here?’’ Akechi’s voice was slightly higher, but he was mostly terrified.

‘’I’m Ren. I’m here to help you.’’ Ren reacted as he tried to get closer, but Akechi backed up into a corner in an instant.

His eyes looked mortified, untrusting. ‘’I-I don’t believe you!’’ He almost yelled. ‘’And even so, no one can help me, especially not some strangers!’’

The look in Akechi’s eyes broke something in Ren. This child had already been hurt so much to be convinced that nothing could help him. ‘’Can I at least try?’’ Ren tried, while also trying his best to smile as softly as he possibly could.

The young Akechi’s eyes softened a bit after seeing that. ‘’Why would you?’’ He asked.

‘’Because we are your friends.’’ Ren responded. ‘’And friends help each other when they are in pain, don’t they?’’

Akechi looked down to the ground. ‘’I don’t have any friends, so I don’t know.’’ He said. The entire group tried their best not to break down themselves after hearing that. It truly was a painful thing to realise. A middle school child without any friends, anyone to care for them. Some of them had experienced something similar, but seeing it happen to someone else is a whole different feeling.

‘’But now you do. So could you please tell me what’s going on?’’ Ren asked, softly yet again.

Akechi hesitated for a moment, but he actually moved away from his corner, back to his previous position. ‘’No one likes me. They think I’m weird.’’ He said honestly while looking down at the ground again.

‘’Everyone is weird in a way. Why do they say that about you?’’ Ren didn’t want to make the child uncomfortable in any way, but asking questions might be the only way to move forward.

‘’They say I’m not happy enough. They don’t want a weird sad person around them.’’ Another tear fell down from Akechi’s eye, only this one wasn’t blood for a change.

Ren took a moment to take this in. This was most likely the moment right before he began his masquerade of fake smiles.

‘’I am trying to smile for them already, since I know that’s all they want to see, but it’s not enough.’’ Akechi continued his explanation.

The group could sense that everyone wanted to yell something along the lines of ‘No, don’t!’, but no one did.

‘’What are you going to do about it?’’ Ren asked. He didn’t know what else to ask, something had changed into Akechi’s mind which resulted into him fully taking on a mask and he needed to figure out what it was.

Akechi looked at Ren’s eyes for a moment. ‘’I don’t know.’’ He whispered. He then began to glow slightly, before returning into his previous state of just crying.

‘’We didn’t get anything.’’ Yusuke said as he realised what had happened.

But right as they wanted to get back out another voice from outside the bathroom was being heard. ‘’Who’s there?’’ It was a woman’s voice, most likely a teacher.

The child froze up the moment he heard the voice, but he didn’t move. Instead the woman entered the bathroom with them. ‘’I-I’m sorry.’’ Akechi began to apologize.

The teacher didn’t look happy, she sighted right before she spoke. ‘’Ah, it’s you. Meet me in the faculty office after school. This can’t stay like this for any longer.’’ She said. Then she walked away, leaving a now terrified child behind her, who now began to cry even louder than before.

‘’Well, she isn’t the nicest around her I see.’’ Ann said sarcastically.

‘’Leaving a child to cry like this, not even asking what’s wrong. That’s just terrible.’’ Haru reacted.

Ren let everyone have a moment to think about what just happened, before he spoke again. ‘’But I think we’ve gotten ourselves a clue on our next stop.’’ He said.

‘’The faculty office it is.’’ Morgana added.

They soon moved off, towards the teacher.

Where they would get a new type of lesson, a new lesson about Akechi’s past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This time I've posted an image on my art tumblr, since I kind of need to keep that blog alive as well, which you can find here:  
> http://rainbowplane-art.tumblr.com/post/174173733114/a-scene-of-the-fic-of-the-third-chapter-of-the
> 
> Thanks again for reading and I hope to see you back next week for the next chapter!


	4. Lessons about happiness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter is slightly shorter than usual I suppose, but a lot is happening!
> 
> Enjoy!!

‘’Akechi-kun? Are you alright? You seem a little out of it today?’’ A voice snapped Akechi out of his thoughts. The voice belonged to one of the presenters of the show he frequently guest-starred in. Although he had said to lessen his TV-appearances he still ended up agreeing on coming in there today.

He took a moment to recollect his mind before he answered. ‘’Ah, I apologize. I’ve been rather busy lately, so my mind might not always be as focussed as usual.’’ He said. He actually didn’t know why he was so unfocussed. Something kept him from focussing, but he couldn’t figure out what it was.

The show in itself went on as usual, although everyone saw a small change in Akechi’s behaviour, no one really knew what it was, not until the presenter stated it. ‘’You seem to be smiling a little less, is the case truly becoming so much serious?’’ She said.

Then it hit him. It hit all of them. He smiled less, he showed more of his true emotions. ‘’I suppose so. Things have been pretty hectic lately after all.’’ He managed to say, but his mind was now racing. He hadn’t been this honest in a long time. Was he changing? But why?

No answers came to his mind at the moment and the rest of the show went on as usual, but Akechi wasn’t going to let this moment go that easily. Something was happening to him. He only didn’t know the cause yet.

 

The Phantom thieves soon arrived at the faculty office, but the journey in itself wasn’t an easy one either. The whispering voices in the hallways became louder when they became closer and a general feeling of uneasiness befell unto the group when they were near.

‘’Why do I get the feeling I don’t want to go in? We were all determined to do this a second ago?’’ Ann asked when they stood right in front of the door. No one dared to open it yet, no one dared to get in.

‘’It must have something to do with the general feelings of this place. But we’ve never encountered anything like this before.’’ Morgana reacted. Everyone sat down, resting from the journey before they went to encounter whatever was behind that door.

Another small moment went by, but then Ren made up his mind and put his hand onto the door handle. ‘’I’ll get in now. It would be a lot safer if everyone joined me.’’ He put on a soft smile, trying to ease everyone’s mind a bit. ‘’We’ve made up our mind to help Akechi, right?’’ He asked in addition.

Everyone stood up almost instantaneously, some nodding in response. ‘’Of course we have.’’ Yusuke said.

‘’Otherwise we wouldn’t even have been here.’’ Ryuji added right before they went in. But the sights they were about to see were even more horrifying than they could’ve ever imagined.

 

‘’No!’’ A cry of a child was being heard as soon as the door opened. The voice they’ve heard before. Everyone froze for a moment, before continuing their movement.

Inside the child was now on the ground, back turned towards the group, hands covering his face. The teacher they had previously encountered was standing in between him and the group, smiling. ‘’It’s for his own good.’’ She said.

At first no one knew what she was referring to, but then the young Akechi turned around. ‘’Oh my God.’’ Haru gasped, just like about everyone else.

Metal strips were attached to his cheeks, keeping the corners of his mouth up to smile. Blood was dripping down from said strips. The mouth looked like it was smiling, but his eyes were crying.

‘’Now he can finally keep up with the rest of the kids. No more crying in the bathroom either.’’ The teacher added.

‘’This is so wrong on so many levels.’’ Futaba reacted, although she didn’t know what else to say about it.

‘’It is. She didn’t try to help him, she tried to hide his feelings.’’ Makoto added. ‘’No wonder he ended up wearing a full mask soon. This is where it started.’’

The teacher now began to realise the others in the room were indeed intruders. ‘’What are you doing here?’’ She said, raising her voice in the process.

‘’We are collecting a key here, while judging your teaching techniques as well.’’ Ren responded. He was angry with her. She had dared to hurt one of her student like that, even when she had seen him cry and being in pain.

A grin formed onto the teacher’s face as she got something out of her pocket. It was the second key. ‘’I won’t give it to you though, especially when you can’t even respect me.’’ She said.

Ren didn’t hesitate for a single moment when he spoke the next sentence. ‘’Then I guess we just have to take it by force.’’

The whole group knew what he was implying within a moment, but no one had any objections. This woman was evil, they would feel kind of satisfied after kicking her ass. They all got into their fighting positions soon after.

‘’Very well then, let’s see what you guys are made of then.’’ The teacher said, right before she began to transform into a shadow. The shadow looked quite similar to her own self, but now she was completely made of metal. Spikes sticking out of most parts of her body.

Her main attacks consisted out of shooting metal strips towards the fighting group. They managed to dodge most of them, but Ren got hit eventually. ‘’Gotcha!’’ The shadow yelled.

Ren had one knee to the ground as he held his face down. ‘’Are you okay?!’’ Ann yelled from the other side of the room, but she didn’t need to worry for long. Ren looked up. The same type of strip stuck into Akechi’s face is now within him as well, small droplets of blood falling from his face.

‘’Of course I am.’’ He answered. His eyes looked dark, darker than they had ever done before. He looked straight towards the shadow. ‘’I already thought you were a terrible being, but after feeling the same pain my only wish is to completely destroy you. Just like you’ve destroyed this boy!’’ he yelled. He was in great pain while doing so, but nothing was going to stop him.

With their now even stronger convictions they moved on with the fight, leaving no room for the shadow to even attempt to hurt anyone again. The fight in itself became to an end soon after. The teacher now sitting on her knees in defeat.

Ren walked towards her, reaching out his hand. ‘’The key.’’ He said coldly. She didn’t speak a work as she gave it to him, disappearing into nothingness soon after.

The room was quiet for a moment, no one knowing what to do, no one knowing what to say.

‘’Can I ask you something?’’ A voice was then heard, it came from Akechi, still sitting there on his knees.

Ren now walked towards him, kneeling down next to him. ‘’Of course. What is it?’’ He said. His whole expression was changed within an instant, now he spoke softly again.

‘’Are you truly my friends?’’ Akechi asked which great uncertainty in his voice.

‘’Of course we are.’’ Ren responded.

There was a small moment of silence before Akechi spoke again. ‘’How?’’

‘’Well, we are friend with the older you, so that must mean we are also friends with you, right?’’ Ren didn’t know how else to describe it, he didn’t want to get into any details about their meeting either.

The child looked up to Ren. He was sincerely smiling. Even when the strips were still in his face it was clear it was an honest smile. ‘’Thank you for being here.’’ He said. Then he as well disappeared, only him vanishing into a bright white light.

 

They now had the key, so they could get out. But nobody moved. This palace was the most taxing onto their own well-being. They all felt the pain Akechi had gone through. No one spoke, no one moved.

‘’We should get out.’’ Morgana eventually proposed. Everyone nodded and agreed. Everyone but one.

‘’Just-just give me another moment.’’ Ren said. Seeing the sincere smile of the child up close had done something to him, he needed some time to recollect his own thoughts for a moment.

Everyone looked at each other, everyone understood. ‘’Alright then, but don’t take too long.’’ Morgana said as he walked towards the door. Everyone soon left the room, leaving Ren alone with his thoughts for a small moment.

 

It hurt. The strip in his face, the look in the child eyes, the thoughts about what’s left to come. Everything hurts. Ren had no idea how he was going to get through yet another one of these places, not even thinking about what his treasure location should be like.

‘’You can’t give up now, you know.’’ A voice said, a voice being close. As Ren looked up he realised it was the actual shadow Akechi, the one of his own age at least.

‘’I-I know.’’ Ren said. He knew he had to finish this. This moments had given him more determination than ever. He only wasn’t certain if his own sanity could hold in the meantime.

Akechi touched Ren’s face, the strip was still attached to his mouth. ‘’Shall I do something about this first?’’ Akechi asked.

Ren simply nodded in response. Akechi soon pulled the strip out. It hurt a lot. But before Ren could comment on his Akechi places his fingers onto the now bleeding spot, and a light began to shine from them.

It didn’t take long before the pain disappeared completely. ‘’Thank you.’’ Ren simply said.

‘’I should still be the one to thank you. This is nothing in comparison to what you are doing for me.’’ Akechi said as he went to lean on a nearby desk.

Ren soon stood up to stand beside him. ‘’I suppose so. But you’re trying your best, so that’s all that you need to do for me. I’m more than grateful to have you around here.’’ Ren’s emotional outburst from before had made him unable to hide any more of his true thoughts and feelings.

‘’Tell that to the real me when you speak to him again.’’ Akechi said, smiling. Ren noticed he could actually see Akechi smile somehow, even though the mask was supposed to cover up his whole face.

He soon noticed small cracks began to form in the mask, but only darkness laid underneath them.

Ren smiled back in return. ‘’I will. Thank you.’’ He said. There was no use thinking over it too much now, so he ended up letting the thought go at the moment.

‘’Go back to the rest of the group now, they must be worried for you.’’ Akechi said.

Ren simply nodded as he walked towards the door. ‘’See you again soon I guess.’’ He said before he walked of completely.

‘’Yeah, if you can even handle the next location.’’ Akechi whispered as Ren was already out of sight.

 

The whole group was waiting outside for Ren to return, luckily it didn’t take too long for that to happen. ‘’Are you okay now?’’ Haru asked as soon as Ren was back.

‘’Yes, I’m fine.’’ He answered. It was clear something had happened to increase his mood slightly, but no one bothered to ask what that was. Instead they decided to head out of the palace as soon as possible. They were all completely drained from this experience after all.

Soon they found themselves back into the attic at Leblanc, just like they had never even left the place. ‘’Are you going to meet with Akechi again to figure out the next place?’’ Ann asked Ren after some time. They were all resting for a bit before heading home.

‘’I think so. That has proven to be the best way to do it.’’ Ren reacted. His mind was still preoccupied with other thoughts, many other thought he didn’t even knew he had.

Ann snuck a meaningful glance towards Makoto. ‘’Just be careful. He still remains dangerous you know?’’ Makoto then said. They had seen Ren react more emotional lately and they were worried he would get himself in trouble if he didn’t look out.

Ren was too lost to even notice the look the two girls sent to each other. ‘’I know.’’ Was his only response as well.

Everyone soon decided that it was for the best if they went home for the day. All of them were exhausted, and there still was school tomorrow to worry about as well.

 

It was dark already, although it wasn’t that late. Akechi found himself at his desk, catching up with some schoolwork, when another headache hit him. This one was even more intense and painful than the last.

This time he didn’t hear voices, he saw a person. A person he had tried to forget. His old teacher.

Soon she spoke. ‘’You’re still as pathetic as you used to be. If only you’ve listened to my advice a bit better.’’ She said. She didn’t even sound mad, but her voice terrified Akechi.

He just sat there, staring at her, remembering all the pain he had felt during that time. All the pain that woman had caused him.

‘But she did help me in some way.’ This thought of Akechi was quickly met by an increase in his headaches, which made him even unable to keep his head up high.

As soon as he managed to raise his head back up again the teacher was gone and he was finally left alone again. Only he began to wonder why this kept happening to him. He also had no concentration left to continue his work.

Luckily for him he soon got a message. He didn’t know the messages where this perfectly in sync with his attacks either, but for now he didn’t care.

What he did care for was the message in itself, which was of a completely different nature than he had expected.

_Ren: ‘’I need to talk to you. Please tell me when you’re available. Please tell me it’s soon.’’_

It sounded, desperate. Akechi wondered what must have happened to him to sound like that all of a sudden. He looked down at the time, it was still early.

_Akechi: ‘’I can be there in half an hour if you want?’’_

Akechi was curious. Curious to see what made the always cool leader of the Phantom thieves look desperate like that. He didn’t get much time to think about it though, a reply was soon received.

_Ren: ‘’I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.’’_

After reading that message Akechi realised he should get moving soon then. Something was up with Ren, and he needed to figure out what that something was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New pictures!  
> https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1rjcU11BgbE0rAVOIyC9XZu71YpGD4jzr?usp=sharing
> 
> Also, I won't be able to post the next chapter coming Wednesday, since I'll be on holliday the entire week. I might still find a way, but otherwise it will be posted on a different date. (Maybe next Sunday? With the following one back on track the right Wednesday, depends how things work out.)
> 
> But it will be posted either way, that's for sure.
> 
> Thanks for reading for now, and see you around again soon I hope!


	5. A painful experience

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've spoken about it in the notes at the end of the last chapter, but I'm posting this chapter a few days ahead of sceduele since I'll be gone on a holliday for the rest of the week. I didn't want to wait too long before posting, so that's why I've done this.   
> Hope you enjoy!

As Akechi walked inside Leblanc something was off. There wasn’t anyone downstairs. This was the first time that Ren wasn’t waiting for him there.

He walked the stairs to see what was going on, only to find Ren staring at the distance somewhere, he hadn’t noticed Akechi coming in yet.

‘’Are you alright?’’ Akechi decided to ask. It was more of an attempt to gain the other’s attention than to actually ask the question, although he was rather worried now.

Ren was snapped out of his thoughts within an instant. ‘’I’m sorry. I lost track of time a bit.’’ He said. He looked a bit shocked.

‘’It’s okay. That stuff happens.’’ Akechi was unsure if he could go on and ask for reasons already, so he didn’t yet.

Ren looked around for a bit. ‘’Should I get you some coffee?’’ He asked.

Akechi smiled a bit. ‘’No need. Tell me what’s going on first. I’ve never seen you so out of it before.’’ He walked towards the bed where the other was seated, getting down next to him. ‘’Why did you need to see me so suddenly?’’

‘’I just wanted to tell you something.’’ Ren started. He took a small moment before he continued to speak. ‘’I wanted to tell you how grateful I am to have you in my life.’’

That statement took Akechi completely aback. Why was he saying that all of a sudden? In his mind he was panicking, but he managed to gain his composure. ‘’That’s quite the sudden statement. Any reasons why you suddenly felt the urge to tell me that?’’

Ren didn’t know what to say next. He didn’t know how to say it. ‘’I-I suppose.’’ He only managed to get out of his mouth as he looked down in slight embarrassment.

Akechi was quite amused by that particular response. It was kind of cute. But he did need to get the answers though. ‘’Can you tell me?’’ He asked.

‘’I’m not sure.’’ Was Ren’s only response to that. He didn’t know whether he could ever find the words to say it. He didn’t know whether he could find the courage.

‘’It’s only fair if you do, you know? Considering the fact that I’ve told you many things about myself already as well.’’ Akechi said. ‘’We had a deal to both share information, right?’’

Ren realised what he had done to himself. There was no way out of the situation. ‘’That’s true. It’s just difficult I suppose.’’ He eventually responded, not knowing what else to say.

‘’Just tell me what you want to tell me. I’m thinking that will be enough.’’ Akechi responded.

Ren looked up to Akechi, still uncertain of what to do. But soon after he opened his mouth to speak.

 

-

 

The next day Ren had gotten a message from Makoto.

_Makoto: ‘’When are you meeting up with Akechi again?’’_

_Ren: ‘’Already did.’’_

_Makoto: ‘’Really?! So, did you figure out the next location?’’_

_Ren: ‘’Of course I did. But we will take a few days before we go there.’’_

_Makoto: ‘’That’s understandable. Well done!’’_

Ren was happy to see Makoto this enthusiastically for this. He was quite grateful for the entire group as well. Everyone was determined to help Akechi, even when they knew he wasn’t the typical good guy. It truly made him happy.

 

A few days past before they finally met up to go to Akechi’s palace again. ‘’So, where’s this one located?’’ Ryuji asked as soon as they all were together. They hadn’t actually spoken about this subject in the last days, so no one else knew.

‘’It’s a house just outside the city. It’s his first foster home.’’ Ren explained.

_‘’The first new home I got into was a new type of hell. The kids thought I was weird, and there was nothing I could do to change it.’’_

Akechi’s voice rang through Ren’s head after he said it. He remembered seeing the pain in Akechi’s eyes as he explained. This one was going to be a lot harder than the previous location, both physically and mentally.

‘’Did the other kids there bully him?’’ Haru asked with a sense of worry in her voice.

_‘’They shut me out of their activities ever since I first got there. And when I was around there were nothing but mean whispers and looks.’’_

‘’Something like that.’’ Ren responded.

_‘’The adults around the house didn’t care. They didn’t care for me. The only thing they cared for was to look good. Taking care of a child like me made them look quite compassionate after all.’’_

More and more memories of the conversation began to flood his mind. It luckily didn’t take long before they took off, so that he could distract his mind for another while.

 

Every last trace of hope of a lighter destination was completely shattered as soon as they arrived. The place was dark, darker than the school. It was a grand house, with an extensive garden to match.

‘’Where do we even begin in such a place?’’ Futaba wondered. This place was most likely more dangerous than any before, so they couldn’t allow themselves to be wandering around too much.

Everyone was looking at Ren, hopeful. ‘’I don’t know either.’’ He simply said. He didn’t get around to talk about the details. If he kept asking questions things would’ve gotten more suspicious after all. ‘’Our only option is to get in and see.’’

‘’At least try to think beforehand. Doesn’t he have a room in the house?’’ Morgana stated.

‘’He probably has. We could go and look for it.’’ Makoto added.

Although Ren had his doubts about this particular strategy, he kept quiet and agreed. He didn’t have a better plan to get by either. There was only something within him that told him that Akechi wasn’t one to be bound by his room, or any room within this place.

 

Soon they made their way inside. It was almost too dark to see inside, but there wasn’t as much of an uneasy feeling as there was in the school. Morgana stated that it might’ve been because Akechi’s memories of this particular place weren’t as vivid anymore.

Two adults were standing in the middle of the grand hallway as they entered. ‘’What is your business in our house?’’ The woman asked.

The whole group was taken aback by the sudden noise, the darkness made them hard to spot in the first place. Ren stepped forwards to speak with the couple. ‘’We came to visit Goro-kun.’’ He stated.

The couple looked at each other for a moment, and then they laughed. ‘’Goro doesn’t get any visitors. No one likes him.’’ The woman spoke again. It seemed like the man didn’t speak that much in general.

‘’That’s no way to talk about your child.’’ Ryuji muttered under his breath.

But the woman caught up to it. ‘’He isn’t ours though.’’ She said. ‘’He’s not our blood, so we don’t need to care for him the same way.’’

Ren’s eyes became darker again, and the group noticed the change in behaviour as well. Makoto spoke in order to keep him down for a little longer. ‘’Why did you even take in a child when you weren’t going to care for him?’’ She asked. She remained calm, but even in her voice an underlining hatred was being heard.

‘’Because we can brag about it of course.’’ The woman responded.  ‘’And his life in here is much better than back in the centre already, so in the end we’re both helping each other. We can proudly state we are taking care of an orphan and he can live a better life.’’

After hearing those words Ren exploded. ‘’You’re only using him! An innocent child!’’ He yelled, almost in tears. ‘’And for what?! So you can get a little credit for it!? You’re completely destroying him!!’’ He had to put in a lot of effort to not fall down to his knees and cry after his little outburst, but luckily he managed.

‘’You’re just a kid yourself, you don’t understand the importance of status yet.’’ The woman said, not even being slightly affected by the whole burst of emotions. ‘’But I would kindly request you guys leave our house now.’’ She added

Ren struggled. ‘’We’re not done here yet.’’ He said, eyes now completely turned black.

A hand grabbed his arm before he could do anything though. ‘’Let’s go, we’ll get them later.’’ Yusuke said calmly. Ren didn’t want to, but he knew there was no way the others were going to let him fight like this. They were almost all outside already, only Ren and Yusuke, who was still holding on to Ren’s arm, were still somewhat inside.

But the woman spoke again. ‘’You won’t get us, you’re just cowards in the end, just like little Goro.’’ This made every last bit of self restrained within Ren disappear within a single moment. He pulled his arm back and charged in, his knife pointed straight towards the woman. ‘’Oh my, you do have some life within you then.’’ She said.

The group asked Yusuke what had happened, and as Yusuke stepped outside to tell the doors closed, separating them from their leader. Ren himself was blinded by his hatred, too much to even notice.

One strike he managed to hit on the woman, one strike before he was hit by incredible force. The man beside her had a baseball bat. Ren was hit straight on his head, but just as soon as he went down he got up again. He wasn’t going down without a fight.

‘’A persistent one really.’’ The woman commented. ‘’Show him who’s truly the boss in this house. Let him feel what Goro has felt.’’

That last particular sentence shot Ren straight through his heart again. They had actually been physically abusing him as well.

Every last bit of pain from that previous blow had disappeared, Ren was ready to fight, to fight till the end if he needed to.

Ren managed to keep on standing and fighting for quite a while, but he began to realise there was a limit to his own strength. He wasn’t going to survive this one alone. Then a voice was heard through the room, a voice which distracted Ren, almost to fatal extents.

‘’Mother.’’ A child came in through the door on the other side. The child was unmistakably Akechi. His voice was to be recognised everywhere.

Ren looked in his direction, not noticing the man getting up on him from behind, not before it was already too late. He turned back around, only to be met by a bat in the face, losing consciousness within moments.

 

‘’I hope he’s doing okay.’’ Haru said. The group had split themselves in two groups. Haru, Yusuke and Futaba would stay behind at the entrance, while the other four would search around the building for another way in.

Futaba was continuously scanning the area behind the door. She was unable to reach it with any other of her abilities, but she could at least monitor slightly. ‘’He’s still alive, and breathing.’’ She said. But she sprung up suddenly. ‘’No!’’ She yelled.

‘’What happened?’’ Yusuke asked, scared. He blamed himself for not keeping Ren in place, he was the only one that could’ve kept him with the rest of them after all.

‘’Another entity came in a moment ago, distracting Ren it seems.’’ Futaba said. She had great difficulty with it, as if something terrible had happened. ‘’The man took the opportunity. Ren’s unconscious.’’

The fear in both Haru and Yusuke’s eyes was indescribable. Both were fearing for the worst now, their leader could easily die.

‘’Wait, another entity came around.’’ Futaba was lively again, busily scanning the room behind the doors. ‘’This one seems to be, shielding Ren.’’ Uncertainty and disbelief was being heard within her voice as she said that. A shadow entity that actually helped them was quite uncommon after all.

Yusuke was just as confused. ‘’What do you mean ‘shielding’? Is he still okay?’’

‘’Yes, he’s still breathing. This shadow seems to have formed a barrier around them, keeping the couple at distance. It’s a positive thing I suppose’’ Futaba responded. She had no idea what to think of it personally, but she did was somewhat relieved that Ren was at least somewhat safe at the moment.

Haru was a bit more understanding. ‘’Isn’t the shadow Akechi? Like the actual shadow ruler of this palace. I think he would be around to help our leader when he needs it.’’ She said. This made both Futaba and Yusuke gasp in realisation, Futaba soon confirming the truth of that statement.

The other half of the group returned shortly, getting briefed with the current situation as soon as they were within hearing distance.

‘’We weren’t successful in finding an entrance though, but I guess we’re in luck that shadow Akechi helps out.’’ Ann said as soon as the other group finished their explanation.

‘’We did find something awesome!’’ Ryuji was actually somewhat excited. ‘’But I guess we would have to wait till our leader gets out of there.’’ He added as soon as he saw that his excitement wasn’t that much appreciated in the current circumstances.

‘’He will. He has the power of the palace ruler on his side after all.’’ Morgana said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter should be out on regular sceduele, meaning one and a half week from now.   
> This is unless I myself can't handle the wait anymore...


	6. The garden paths

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to type something here, but the stress of my upcoming exam results have made me forget it...
> 
> Enjoy the chapter!

_‘’Just tell me what you want to tell me. I’m thinking that will be enough.’’_

Memories of the conversation Ren and Akechi had the other night flooded into Ren’s mind again, these only being the ones irrelevant to his current situation, or were they?

Ren had no idea how to say it, it had been stuck in his mind for so long. In the end, he just blurted out the words, the words that crossed his mind almost every single day.

_‘’I love you, that’s why!’’_

He had yelled pretty loudly, his voice being overwhelmed with emotions. Akechi had seemed to be taken aback by his sudden confession. Seemingly unable to respond fully he simply said a few words.

_‘’Aah, I see.’’_

Ren began to doubt himself by then, he began to regret his decision to call Akechi over in the first place. He began to regret ever single word he had said up until that moment. But he had already dug himself in too deep by then, so he had to continue.

_‘’I apologize for raising my voice so suddenly, but that’s truly how I feel at the moment. I understand if you don’t feel the same though.’’_

A small sparkle was being seen in Akechi’s eyes at that particular moment, but Ren realised it could’ve also been his imagination.

_‘’That’s not- I-‘’_

Akechi seemed to have had trouble finding the right words. But in the end he did manage, although they weren’t the words Ren wanted to hear at the moment, they were better than nothing at least.

_‘’I need some time to think about it, if that’s alright with you.’’_

Ren didn’t have any other choice than to agree, he didn’t want to, but he had to. He had nodded in response. Soon their conversation had drifted of within a completely different direction, eventually leading up to the talk about Akechi’s foster home.

 

Ren began to wake from his memories, unable to realise where he was at first. But as soon as he felt the most intense pain in his head he realised what had happed to him and he tried to spring up, only the pain prevented him from doing so.

‘’At least try to be careful with yourself. You’ll truly get yourself killed one day.’’ A voice beside Ren spoke, Ren immediately recognising the voice.

‘’Like you’re one to talk.’’ Ren commented back. He wanted to say more, but the pain in his head prevented him yet again.

Shadow Akechi let out a small chuckle ‘’I suppose you’re correct there.’’ He said. ‘’But since you can respond again I suppose I can bring you back to your group now? They must be quite worried by now.’’

Ren didn’t know how long he was out for, but judging from Akechi’s voice it was quite a while. ‘’What happened? Where are those people?’’ He eventually asked after he looked around. The hallway was completely empty.

‘’They’ve gone away after they realised I wasn’t going to let them hurt you as well.’’ Akechi stated. Ren now noticed the cracks in Akechi’s mask had grown again, both in number and size. He wondered whether it had something to do with what they were doing in the palace. One of Akechi’s eyes was now fully visible, but still only darkness was seen around it.

Ren was then quickly snapped out of his thoughts as the shadow spoke again. ‘’There’s an invisible shield surrounding us right now, so there’s no way they could get to us.’’ He said.

‘’That’s kind of cool.’’ Ren said honestly. He had no idea shadows could have such powers. ‘’Why did you come here?’’ He asked. Ren didn’t quite know why shadow Akechi had decided to save him like that, but at the same time he couldn’t think of a reason why he wouldn’t.

Akechi, who was previously seated right next to Ren, stood up. ‘’Because I didn’t want you to die of course.’’ He responded. It was an honest response, but one without much meaning.

‘’Because you want me to steal the treasure?’’ Ren asked as he sat up straight. His head was still spinning, but he was trying.

‘’Of course that’s part of the reason.’’ Akechi said. ‘’But I suppose you’re important to us personally as well, both to me here as to the real life me.’’ He then added. This made Ren question their past conversation again, did this mean Akechi actually did like him back after all?

‘’In what way?’’ Ren tried to ask. His shadow appeared to be way more honest than his real life counterpart, and Ren really needed some answers by now.

Akechi’s shadow chuckled slightly. ‘’Ask that to my other self another time, or wait for me to get to you. I won’t tell you here.’’ He then said. Leaving Ren in the dark yet again. ‘’But like I said, you need to get back to the group. Can you stand?’’

Ren tried to get up himself, and managed, kind of. As soon as he stood he wobbled and almost fell back to the ground, luckily Akechi was there to catch him. ‘’Thank you.’’ Ren said. He realised there was no way he would get any answers out of him now, so he would just have to go along. He had to continue this location, he had to complete this palace.

Shadow Akechi supported Ren the entire way towards the door, making sure he was doing okay the entire time. As they approached the doors they opened right in front of them. ‘’I at least still have some powers around here it seems.’’ Akechi said jokingly, as if he wasn’t even certain the doors would open for them at all.

Behind the opening the whole group was standing in anticipation. Futaba had warned the group of Ren’s arrival, so everyone was ready to take him over. ‘’He’s still quite wobbly, but he’ll be fine. The rest of your journey in this place shouldn’t be too difficult, if you know how to stay out of trouble of course.’’ Akechi said as Yusuke and Ryuji took Ren over. He then began to walk in the opposite direction, back into the house.

‘’Wait! Where do we go?’’ Ann yelled after the shadow. Although they had a hunch where they should, no one know for certain.

Akechi turned around for a small second. ‘’Not past this doors at least, follow your heart I suppose.’’ The door began to close again, slowly. ‘’And keep an eye out for that guy, if he follows his heart he ends up in more danger.’’ He added right before the doors were fully closed yet again.

‘’He could’ve at least phrased it a bit nicer.’’ Ren said after he was sat down at the ground again. ‘’It was his fault I lost in the first place, somewhat.’’

The whole group looked slightly confused. ‘’The first new entity.’’ Futaba stated. ‘’It was a child version of Akechi again, wasn’t it?’’ She then asked.

After Ren nodded in response the group began to discuss what to do next. There only was one place they could go, the place the group who tried to find a way in found before.

‘’There’s this wicked place in the back garden. If we can’t go inside that must be the place to be, right?’’ Ryuji was excited once again. He had found the place, so he felt really proud.

Ren looked up for a moment. ‘’That sounds reasonable. Well done Ryuji.’’ He said. He could see Ryuji’s eyes light up entirely after being praised for his discovery, it didn’t happen that much after all.

‘’But should we come back another time? You still seem quite disorientated.’’ Makoto asked. She was worried about the wellbeing of Ren, everyone was.

‘’There’s no need. Akechi himself would’ve warned us if I couldn’t handle it in my current condition.’’ Ren reassured the group. He in fact wasn’t entirely certain, but he didn’t want to go back at another date. He wanted to finish this place as soon as possible, because finishing this place meant that they were one step away from finishing the entire palace.

Everyone was silent, thinking about his current statement. Something weird was going on between the two of them. Ren seemed to fully trust Akechi’s shadow by now, which wasn’t a healthy responds at all.

But at the same time the shadow reacted in the most unusual way possible as well. Even protecting an intruder. The closest they had seen that happen was at Futaba’s palace, but in there the shadow never actively helped out. But Akechi’s shadow was different.

The two of them seemed to be connected in some way, and everyone was frightened by it. Ren was seen to be fully emotionally invested, he would even die for Akechi when needed. This sudden display of emotion by their normally calm and collected leader made for a new type of uneasiness. No one knew what to expect anymore.

But everyone knew what must be done. Especially since Ren cared so much. This palace needed to disappear, Akechi needed to be saved. And if their leader was so certain that they would manage, even when he himself wasn’t at full strength, they just had to trust it and keep moving forwards. Before it was too late, before time runs out completely.

 

The group soon made their way around the back of the house, into the garden. The place was dark, but not as dark as the house. The garden was covered in high plants, making it difficult to see through.

But as soon as they managed to get in they heard voices, they were the voices of children.

_‘’Is he in the deeper parts again?’’_

_‘’Of course he is, he’s a coward after all.’’_

_‘’That’s where he belongs though. He’s weird.’’_

_‘’Why did mom and dad even take him in? It’s not like he is normal like the rest of us.’’_

_‘’He can’t even talk to people.’’_

The children seemed to be gathered in one corner of the garden, talking to themselves. Ren’s blood was close to boiling yet again, but he couldn’t go out and try to hit the children. Although he really wanted to.

An opening within the dense growth of the back parts of the garden let them further inside. The opening in itself was small, but the path became wider and wider. This was almost the complete opposite of everything they’ve encountered before.

‘This must be the only place around here where he feels safe.’ Ren thought to himself as he noticed that the place actually became a little bit brighter as well.

They were soon met with a big open space at the end of the path. At first it seemed like nothing was there, but soon they noticed a child was standing behind the pillar at the centre.

The child didn’t speak, but it was clear what it was thinking. It was afraid, afraid to be bullied or abused again. Ren walked forwards, still a little dizzy, to do what he did best, talking to Akechi. ‘’Hey there, Goro isn’t it?’’ He spoke softly.

Goro didn’t move, but the slight shimmer in his eyes showed that he at least responded to his name. Ren got down on his knees. Both to get on the same eye level to appear less threatening and to make sure he didn’t fall over.

‘’It’s alright. We aren’t here to hurt you.’’ Ren spoke again. This time Goro moved slightly away from the pillar, still keeping his distance. ‘’In fact, that people inside have managed to hurt me pretty bad as well.’’

After hearing those words Goro’s eyes trailed up and down Ren’s body, noticing the obvious wounds to his head. After concluding he was speaking the truth the child came closer, albeit just a little. ‘’Why are you here?’’ He asked.

Ren was quite thrilled to see that Goro already trusted him a little, enough to talk. ‘’We came to talk to you. I believe you are in possession of a key.’’ Ren said honestly. There was no reason for him to keep quiet about his intentions. None at all.

‘’I see. I guess I can give it to you. If I knew where it was.’’ Goro said, looking down. He seemed honestly ashamed of it.

‘’Why can’t you remember?’’ Ren asked. The child must’ve gotten some reason to forget, he at least hoped they didn’t need to fight anyone to get that memory back.

Goro looked away for a moment. Then he began to cry. Eyes filled with liquid, blood. His eyes began to glow a red colour as well. ‘’The people around here are making me forget. Every day they only tell me how weird I am, how unlovable. And they’re right.’’ Goro’s voice became slightly altered as well. ‘’And then I also get beaten when I tell the parents, or when I ask a question. I no longer keep own memories. They aren’t worth anything, I’m not worth anything.’’

The glowing of the eyes stopped, but the child remained to cry. ‘’You are worth a lot more than you realise. Believe me.’’ Ren tried to convince the child, but he was certain he couldn’t reach him with his words as much as he wanted to.

Goro did look up from hearing that, bloody tears still dripping down his face. ‘’Then I suppose you’re the only one who thinks like that.’’ He said. ‘’But if you’re so determined. The key lies somewhere within this garden. One of this paths will lead you to it.’’

At first Ren was confused, no paths were there, but soon openings within the plants began to appear, creating new ways. ‘’I’m hoping you can think like this one day as well.’’ Ren said after he stood up, patting the head of the child for a small moment. Then he met up with the group.

‘’I guess we need to get going then.’’ Ren said as soon as he gathered with the others.

Everyone looked at each other before Makoto spoke. ‘’You’re not going anywhere.’’ She said. The whole group nodding afterwards.

Ren felt utterly betrayed like this. They actually all agreed in sync with one another. ‘’Why not?’’ He eventually asked. Fighting was useless, and he knew the reason, but he could at least try.

‘’Because you can’t even walk in a straight line, it’s way too dangerous. And you know it.’’ Makoto said. She also knew he was just putting up a useless fight. ‘’There will be someone with you to protect you of course, but there’s no way we can allow you to go inside. It will be a dangerous situation for all of us.’’ She added. It was clear she had taken over the role of team leader by now, and it was also clear that everyone agreed with this plan.

Ren took his defeat. ‘’Alright then. I suppose it’s for the best. I’ll trust you with the leading of the group then, although it seems you’re already doing a great job.’’ He said to Makoto.

Makoto didn’t waste any other moment as she tried to decide on who to stay with Ren. She eventually chose Ryuji for the job. ‘’Get back to the front of the building. There we’re certain no shadow can come and surprise the two of you.’’ Makoto instructed right before the rest of the group entered the first path, leaving the two of them behind.

They walked around to the front in almost complete silence, mainly because Ren needed to fully concentrate in order to keep on walking properly. Ryuji had offered to help him, but Ren insisted on walking on his own. They were close to being away from the building when they heard the scream of a child. It was the scream of Goro.

‘’Don’t dude. You know it’s just a shadow.’’ Ryuji had seen the determination in Ren’s eyes already, and he really didn’t want to see him die just yet.

Ren was already close to run through the front door when Ryuji’s words gotten to him. ‘’I-I suppose, I’m sorry.’’ He said as he tried to calm himself down again. Another scream was soon being heard.

‘’Let’s get out of here soon, before you can’t handle it anymore.’’ Ryuji suggested. They had soon distanced themselves enough to not be able to hear anything from inside anymore, sitting at a bench in a small park at the opposite side of the street.

‘’You know, you kind of forget that this place is supposed to be a masquerade with all these troubled places.’’ Ryuji said as they said down. The park was filled with people, wearing the same masks everyone else did. ‘’But as soon as you distance yourself you’re completely surrounded by evidence.’’

‘’The parents wore masks as well.’’ Ren said. No one had probably noticed, since the masks weren’t visible ones. ‘’They even used Akechi as a part of that mask.’’ He added.

Ryuji didn’t quite understand what it meant, but he guessed Ren had seen something he hadn’t, so he let it slide. Instead they were other subjects that needed to be discussed. ‘’What happened to you?’’ Ryuji simply asked.

This question took Ren by surprise, he didn’t expect to have an in debt conversation right now. ‘’What do you mean?’’ He asked in return.

‘’Well, I’ve never seen you lose your cool so much. What happened to change that?’’ Ryuji expanded the question. Everyone was afraid of the well-being of their leader, but no one dared to ask what had changed. No one beside his best friend.

Ren took a small moment before he replied. ‘’I guess this place gets to me a little too much. I guess I care too much for Akechi.’’ He decided to be honest. He had already confessed to Akechi himself, so if his best friend knew things weren’t that bad.

‘’That part is obvious. You get mad as soon as someone dares to hurt him.’’ Ryuji stated. Then the realisation hit him. ‘’A-are you in love with him?’’ He asked, hesitantly.

‘’Yes, yes I am.’’ Ren said. Ryuji’s eyes widened in shock after hearing that honest response. He wasn’t surprised about the fact that Ren did love Akechi, but he didn’t expect him to be so honest about it either. ‘’Although I have no idea what he thinks about me though’’ Ren added.

Ryuji wondered what he had meant by that. ‘’Well his shadow seems quite attached to you as well. But I suppose that isn’t a guarantee.’’ He tried to deduct Ren’s chances, but after looking in the other’s eyes he knew something was up. ‘’But that’s not what you meant.’’ He added.

Then Ren explained the conversation that took place between him and Akechi the other night. And about his uncertainties. Ren was afraid of being rejected, really afraid.

‘’I don’t think you need to worry though.’’ Ryuji said as soon as Ren finished talking. ‘’Like I said, his shadow seems really close to you. He will message you, and he will do so soon.’’ Ryuji did his best to reassure Ren everything was going to be okay, although he had little to no knowledge about the entire situation. ‘’I know I’ve said some bad things about the guy as well, but I think he does care a lot for you as well.’’

Ren did take some sort of comfort into Ryuji’s words, there was no benefit in worrying either. The two of them remained talking about some other subject for a while, until the rest of the group finally returned.

 

Everyone seemed tired, really tired. After talking Ren came to know they’ve travelled almost every path before they had finally managed to find the key, but in the end they did it. They had now successfully gathered all three keys, now only the final location awaited them.

‘’How are we going to plan around that?’’ Haru asked as soon as the topic came up.

Ren thought about it for a moment. ‘’We will steal the treasure as soon as we get in, meaning our next time in here most likely.’’ Although they had no idea what would await them at the location of their final encounter, they couldn’t afford to waste any more time either. They needed to steal the treasure in one go, it was the only option.

‘’I’ll trust your judgement on that.’’ Morgana said. He himself didn’t have any other plan either, so this one was fine to him.

‘’Don’t forget to figure out the place though.’’ Futaba added.

Ren smiled weakly. ‘’I won’t, although it might take me a little longer than usual.’’ He then said. He needed to wait for Akechi to contact him this time after all, he only hoped that would be in time.

Ryuji threw his arm around Ren’s shoulder. ‘’He’s certainly going to do it, so don’t worry.’’ It was more of a reminder to Ren that everything was going to be okay than it was a statement to the entire group.

The group continued their way back, making sure not to waste any more time, everyone was completely exhausted yet again.

 

As soon as they returned to the attic of Leblanc, Ren’s phone made a noise. Nobody really minded any attention to it, nobody except Ryuji who gave him an asking look.

Ren looked down to see who it was, and his eyes widened in response, giving Ryuji enough to know who it was already. Ren put the phone aside for the moment, making sure to finish up properly with the group first before engaging into anything else.

‘’Good luck dude.’’ Ryuji said as soon as he walked out of the café, him being the last to leave.

Ren then returned his attention back towards his phone, one new message. One new message from Akechi. He was scared, scared to open it. What if it was a direct rejection? He couldn’t handle that.

Moments went by, moments of just staring at the screen, before he finally found the courage. Not knowing anything would be a lot more painful in the end after all.

The message read the following:

_Akechi: ‘’I’ve been thinking about what you said for the past couple of days, and I would like to invite you over to my place to talk about it. Does tomorrow work out for you?’’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new picture!  
> https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1rjcU11BgbE0rAVOIyC9XZu71YpGD4jzr?usp=sharing
> 
> The romance part of the story is taking off now! And the end is getting closer as well!  
> Although I'm not entirely certain, I think there will be ten chapters. Which means we're already past halfway.
> 
> See you next Wednesday for the next chapter!


	7. Visiting a new place

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! I'm a day early!
> 
> Main reason being that I'll be way too busy to post anything tomorrow. Hope you enjoy!

Ren found himself at the exit of a new station, one he had never been before, nervous. More nervous than he had ever been before. He grabbed his phone to reread the messages Akechi had sent him to make sure he was still going the right way, to make sure it was actually all true.

He couldn’t help himself but to start back at the beginning again, rereading every word.

_Akechi: ‘’I’ve been thinking about what you said for the past couple of days, and I would like to invite you over to my place to talk about it. Does tomorrow work out for you?’’_

_Ren: ‘’Of course, if you give me an address I’ll get to you.’’_

Ren had taken his time to type that particular message, he had never anticipated to be invited into Akechi’s home after all. But that did remind him of the fact that he didn’t know where he lived, or how he lived.

_Akechi: ‘’I live in the dorms of my school at the moment. But I’ll sent you the route so you can find it easily.’’_

Almost directly after Akechi sent a whole description of how Ren had to get to his place, including the right station to get off. Ren was glad to find out he managed to get it right.

It was quite surprising to him that Akechi was living in a dorm at first, but Ren soon realised he might not have had another choice. Akechi must’ve been lucky enough to get some kind of scholarship, otherwise there might have been no way how he could’ve been in high school while also living on his own. Life is pretty expensive after all.

The next messages where talking about the time they should meet, Akechi asking whether the evening would be fine. Ren had obviously agreed, which is why he found himself wandering unknown streets while the sun had already set.

He was glad the description Akechi had given him was easy to follow, which thus allowed him to get to the right place without much issues. At least, he hoped it was the right place.

Ren then sent Akechi a message, telling him he was most likely in front of the building. Akechi had told him to do so, so he did.

_Akechi: ‘’I’ll get there right now.’’_

The wait wasn’t long. Akechi had been waiting for the other’s arrival after all. ‘’I’m glad you’ve found it.’’ Akechi said as he saw Ren standing in front of the building, waiting for him.

‘’Of course, your instructions were clear.’’ Ren said in response.

Akechi didn’t want to spend much time outside, people would stare, so he guided Ren through the building. His room was on the second floor, which meant they had to travel through some parts of the building before they could arrive. People were looking at them, whispering towards each other. Akechi had never gotten any guests before, so he wasn’t surprised. He wasn’t really liked in this place either.

As they were walking Ren had to try his best to keep control over himself, since he heard all the people whisper as well. But he knew throwing a fit would only cause more trouble for Akechi later, so he managed to keep his cool somewhat.

Every thought he had was soon replaced by pure surprise as Ren was allowed entrance to Akechi’s room. The place was massive, for a dorm at least. It actually had separated rooms, a kitchen, and an own bathroom.

‘’Normally these rooms are occupied by two people, but I happened to be the one alone.’’ Akechi said in a response to Ren’s looks. But that didn’t make it any easier to understand, even for two people this place was gigantic.

Akechi made his way towards the living area, hoping Ren would follow. ‘’This place is awesome.’’ Ren managed to speak out as soon as he also entered the space. ‘’I’m a little sad you kept this place for yourself up until now.’’ He was joking around a bit, mostly to ease his own nerves.

Akechi smiled a little. ‘’I am still quite the private person, and besides you must have noticed the others living here by now. They don’t really like ‘outsiders’’’ He said. ‘’But take a seat. Can I get you something to drink? Although my coffee-making skills aren’t as great as yours I can at least try to make a somewhat drinkable cup.’’

‘’I’m sure you’ll manage just fine.’’ Ren said. He then went to sit on the couch in the middle of the room while Akechi took off to the kitchen, giving him some more time to take in the environment. The room was tidy, which made it almost feel kind of empty. Not many personal stuff was around, only the bare basics a room should have. Ren wondered whether it was because Akechi didn’t have the money or if he just didn’t care about that sort of stuff.

Soon Akechi walked back in, holding two cups of coffee in his hands. He then went to sit on the opposite side of the couch Ren was seated, remaining his distance. Ren was uncertain whether he could see that as a bad sign or not. ‘’Here you go.’’ Akechi then said as he handed one of the cups over to the other.

‘’Thank you.’’ Ren said. He was now really nervous himself. He didn’t know what to say, he didn’t know how to move the conversation, so he just sat there, drinking his coffee.

Akechi only had no idea how to start either. Last night he had messaged Ren within the spur of the moment, after having yet another one of those headache attacks. But now he had no idea how to begin.

Moments of silence went past, until Ren finally couldn’t take it anymore. ‘’You invited me over to talk, right? Saying you’ve been thinking.’’ He managed to say.

‘’Yes, I apologize. I suppose I can’t always find the right words either.’’ Akechi was snapped out of his thoughts by Ren’s sudden words. But he was right. Akechi was the one to initiate this, so he should talk.

Ren smiled softly. ‘’The charismatic detective actually at a loss for words.’’ He said jokingly. ‘’I guess it does happen to anyone though, but at least try. You already know how I feel, so right now it’s only fair if you share as well.’’  Ren understood, he understood far too well what it was like, but he couldn’t wait much longer himself. His own nerves were killing him at the moment.

Akechi took a deep breath. ‘’You’re right. I don’t even have anything to lose here, there’s no reason for me to be that nervous.’’ He took a small moment, a moment to look into Ren’s eyes to see what he was thinking. Ren seemed as nervous as himself, which was nothing but logical. Akechi smiled as he finally managed to speak out his feelings. ‘’I-I love you too, I think.’’

The eyes at the opposite side of the couch widened in response. Ren had still never expected any of his feelings to be mutual, but they somehow were. ‘’I- oh, wow. T-that’s great!’’ Ren was struggling with his words, but he managed to say some sort of coherent sentence.

Another thing he had never expected was to see Akechi cry all of a sudden. Tears slowly dripping down on his face, but he was still smiling, he was happy. ‘’I-I’m sorry.’’ Akechi said as he noticed Ren staring at him, worried.

Ren didn’t think about it for another moment, he slid over towards Akechi and pulled him into a tight hug. ‘’Don’t ever be sorry for showing emotion.’’ He whispered into the other’s ear as he began to softly stroke his back.

Akechi couldn’t say anything, he was crying even harder. He hadn’t cried in a very long time, not like this. He held onto Ren with every strength he had while tears streamed down. No one has ever cared for him like this, no one has ever made him feel like this either. Akechi had no idea how to respond to these things, these new experiences, so his mind decided to go blank and leak empty.

Moments went by, moments in which Ren softly held on to the boy in his arms, while stroking his back and hair and whispering soft sweet things in his ear. ‘’Everything’s okay. I’ll never leave your side. I love you so much.’’ Were some of the phrases he said.

After some more time Akechi had calmed down a little, so he pulled back from the hug to look into the other’s eyes. ‘’Thank you.’’ He said softly, his eyes red and watery from all the crying.

‘’There’s no need to thank me, I love you as well, remember?’’ Ren said as he brushed away a strand of hair in front of Akechi’s eyes. ‘’And as long as you remember that everything should be okay. You are loved, Goro.’’

Akechi’s eyes widened by hearing that, and his instincts took over. In one quick motion he pushed forwards to kiss the other, he needed to feel Ren’s lips on his own. The force this result into the two of them falling backwards onto the couch, but that didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered to Akechi was the softness of the other’s lips, how he was surprised but eased in very soon, how Ren’s hands cupped either side of his face. Everything was perfect and he didn’t want that moment to ever end.

But soon they did break contact, both unable to speak for a moment. The kiss in itself might not have been much, but the feelings behind it were. Akechi moved himself down a little, so that he could rest his head onto the other’s chest comfortably. He was tired, really tired.

Ren didn’t say anything either, he understood. After Akechi had settled down Ren began to softly stroke his hair. Soon they both ended up falling asleep, not really caring about the time or anything else.

 

Ren had no idea what time it was as he woke up, but he was certain it was late, too late. He softly kissed the top of Akechi’s head to wake him up, but instead his grip onto Ren just grew tighter. ‘’We can’t stay like this the entire night. Let us at least move to a proper bed or something.’’ He said while laughing softly. Akechi was just too cute right now.

Soft grunting was heard, soon followed by Akechi sitting up straight again. ‘’Alright then. But let’s talk first.’’ He said. He was still looking a bit sleepy, but there was a sense of determination within his eyes. There was something Akechi wanted to know.

Ren was uncertain what Akechi wanted to talk about, but he did still need information, so another talk wasn’t entirely unwelcome. ‘’What do you want to talk about then?’’ He asked.

Akechi looked him deep into the eyes. ‘’I want to know what it’s like.’’ He said.

‘’What what’s like?’’ Ren was confused. He had no real idea what Akechi was referring to, but when Akechi did tell him, he felt stupid to not realise.

Akechi smiled a little, eyes looking down slightly. ‘’My palace.’’ He then said.

A shock went through Ren’s body. He should’ve seen it coming, he should’ve noticed, but to hear Akechi actually ask about it still surprised him. ‘’When did you find out?’’ He then asked. There was no use in hiding it, they were planning on giving him a calling card soon after all.

‘’Not that long ago, but way longer than I should have.’’ Akechi was actually kind of sad that he hadn’t seen the signs earlier, that he hadn’t coupled the headaches alongside the possibility of mental change. He was a detective, he should’ve noticed as soon as Ren began to speak to him.

Ren took a moment to think. He didn’t know what to say. He eventually decided to apologize. ‘’I’m sorry for keeping it from you. We had to do it.’’ He said.

‘’I understand.’’ Were the only words that came out of Akechi’s mouth. He knew why they kept it a secret, he himself would’ve interfered.

A moment of silence befell onto the two, before Ren decided to speak again. ‘’Did you know you had one, a palace?’’ He asked. He was pretty certain Akechi knew, but at least the silence was gone.

Akechi smiled awkwardly. ‘’Yes, I did. But even I didn’t figure out my own keywords. I’m pretty amazed you managed to do so actually.’’ He said honestly. He was quite ashamed of the fact that he himself didn’t have enough knowledge about himself to figure out enough about his own distortion, but that might’ve been for the best. Akechi might’ve tried to completely destroy his own palace if he did have access.

‘’They aren’t the most common ones either. ‘The whole world’ functions as your location for after all.’’ Ren said. He himself would’ve never found that one if he hadn’t accidentally said it that one time. They really were hard.

‘’That does sound like me now that I think about it.’’ Akechi reacted.

A new silence entered the room, but Ren wasn’t having any of it. An idea gotten into his head, an idea that might’ve been the worst one yet. But he had to do it. ‘’So, wanna see?’’ He asked Akechi.

Akechi looked confused for a moment, questioning whether Ren truly meant what he just asked. But after being given a confirming nod he knew it was serious. ‘’Yes please. I assume the place is close to disappear after all.’’ He answers.

‘’I truly hope so.’’ Ren said. He then grabbed his phone, but quickly changed his mind. ‘’Maybe we should do this outside.’’

‘’Is this place a special location then?’’ Akechi asked. Ren hadn’t been here before, so he doubted he would know. But maybe he did.

Ren stood up already. ‘’I’ve no idea. But considering the fact that this is your home it might very well be something. I don’t want to take the risk.’’ He said.

Akechi agreed to that logic. Even though the two of them would most likely be powerful enough to fight themselves out of most situations it was better to keep it safe. ‘’Alright then. The main doors would most likely be closed by this time, but I know a way.’’ Akechi said as he stood up as well. ‘’Can you get our shoes?’’ He then added as he walked towards the window.

Ren had no idea what to expect, but he simply did as he was told. He had a feeling Akechi had experience with this already. As he returned Akechi had opened up the window and was sitting inside the frame. ‘’You’re not just jumping, are you?’’ Ren asked. Akechi simply smiled as he took his shoes out of the other’s hands.

Just as soon as Akechi had put on his shoes he actually did jump out of the window. Ren quickly running after him. To his surprise he found Akechi standing onto the fire escape stairs just below his window. ‘’Having a room at the end of the building does have some advantages, you know.’’ Akechi said, trying to keep his voice down to not disturb the others inside. He was clearly enjoying himself though, his face smiling brightly at the expression Ren made while looking down.

Soon Ren followed him down. The streets were completely deserted around this time, it almost felt like a complete palace in itself. ‘’Let’s go then.’’ Ren said as he gotten out his phone a second time, this time truly getting into the palace.

 

The whole world soon changed around them, the place now turning a lot livelier. Akechi looked around as soon as everything was changed and he noticed the masks. Everyone walking around this area should be a representation of the other students and the masks did make sense to him. ‘’The other keyword is ‘Masquerade’’’ Ren said as he noticed Akechi staring at the people around.

Akechi then turned around to see Ren, who has been changed into his thief outfit. Only his mask was absent, which confused Akechi quite a lot at first. But as soon as he started to think about it it made perfect sense, Ren was like the only person to him that never needed a mask, as he was accepted without. He looked to see if his own appearance had changed as well. ‘’At least I don’t think of myself as a threat, that’s good, I guess.’’ He said jokingly after seeing his school uniform still on him.

Ren smiled. ‘’Not really sure if that’s good, but I’ll take it.’’ He said. As he looked around he noticed nothing was going on around the place, this wasn’t a place of much distortion. Akechi truly didn’t have much ties to his own home. ‘’We can try to get back inside via the palace, I wonder if it works.’’ Ren then suggested. They’ve never tried this before, but he didn’t feel like climbing back through the window.

‘’Sounds good, but first tell me something.’’ Akechi said. ‘’How does this place work? A worldwide palace must have some way of clearing, places that are more apparent than others.’’ He didn’t understand that part yet. The place they were at now looked almost the same as normal, only the people wore smiling masks to cover their faces. There had to be a way to clear the place.

‘’Yes, they are. There are some places in your life that hold a meaning towards you, towards the establishment of your mask in particular. Those locations hold the keys.’’ Ren began to explain. ‘’As I first entered in Leblanc I found a note explaining this place. There would be three keys from three separate locations which opened up a final place. There the treasure would most likely be located.’’

Akechi took the time to take in what was just been told before he spoke again. ‘’So that’s why you wanted to talk to me, to figure out the locations.’’ He said.

There was a small hint of disappointment into Akechi’s voice, which shot straight through Ren’s heart. ‘’Although I can’t deny that was part of my reasoning, I also wanted to talk to you because I knew you needed it. And clearing this palace was always my goal to help you as well.’’ He said.

‘’I’ve had three attacks already, meaning you most likely hold all the keys already. So only the end remains.’’ Akechi reasoned. The thought that they were already so close frightened him a lot, it would mean he was about to change. But he had already changed, every key seemed to have had an effect on him, so he wasn’t that scared either.

Ren took Akechi’s hand in his as he began to walk forwards. ‘’Yes, but we will speak about that soon. Let’s get back inside first.’’ He said. Akechi followed, still looking around, amazed by the state of his own heart.

 

Inside the dorms was exactly the same as the outside. Nothing was surprising, nothing until they entered Akechi’s room.

‘’So, you’ve actually come here this time.’’ A voice from inside said. Ren instantly recognised it, but Akechi was frightened.

‘’W-what was that? Who’s there?’’ Akechi yelled as he was shaking on his legs. The owner of the voice didn’t say another thing, it kept silent.

Ren tightened his grip on Akechi’s hand. ‘’It’s alright, let’s get in.’’ He said as he looked Akechi in the eyes. He was almost certain it was safe.

Akechi put his trust into the other as he walked behind him, holding his hand tight. A figure was sitting on the chair inside the living area. It was Akechi himself. ‘’A-are you my shadow?’’ Akechi managed to ask.

The figure simply nodded in response. Akechi then took his time to take in the appearance the shadow had taken. Its clothing somewhat resembled his own metaverse outfit he had been wearing lately, but with some additions to make it more masquerade-like. But the mask stood out the most to Akechi. The white mask with the red details, resembling tears, and the plastered smile. The thing that was the most apparent were the cracks, the mask was falling apart. Most places were either cracked or completely fallen off. Underneath only darkness was visible.

‘’You’ve actually done it I see.’’ The shadow turned his attention towards Ren. ‘’I’m glad to see we’ve found the courage to accept as well.’’ A genuine smile was visible from under the mask, but it disappeared into the darkness soon after.

Ren opened his mouth to respond, but before he could Akechi had released his hand to walk towards his shadow, not speaking a word. ‘’Akechi, what are you doing?’’ Ren tried to ask, but he wasn’t responding.

The shadow stood up, he understood. ‘’Although we haven’t met before, I guess we don’t need an introduction either.’’ It said. Akechi didn’t respond yet. ‘’The mask is bothering you, but you’re the one wearing it, not me.’’ The shadow worded out Akechi’s thoughts, which took him by surprise.

But Akechi didn’t hesitate for another second as he raised his hand in front of the shadow’s face. ‘’Then I’ll take it off.’’ He said as he touched it.

To Ren’s surprise the mask shattered into a million glowing pieces the moment Akechi touched it, revealing the shadow’s face for the first time ever. ‘’Well done.’’ The shadow said as it began to fade as well. ‘’I’ll not be gone permanently yet, don’t worry, but this is the first real step in our change.’’ Then it was gone.

Akechi didn’t move, he couldn’t. He had no idea what just happened. He had no idea what he had just done.

Ren walked towards him to reclaim his hand. ‘’You’ve freed yourself from that mask you’ve kept up. Now all that’s left for us is to challenge the source, so that it will never re-appear again.’’ He said softly.

Soon after they returned back into the real world, they still weren’t done for the night either.

 

They continued their conversation in Akechi’s bed, both holding each other close. Akechi told Ren about what was most likely the root of all this, his birth home. He didn’t know what the thieves would find in there, somewhere he didn’t want to know, but he was almost certain that was going to be the place.

It didn’t take long before the two of them were finished talking. The night wasn’t that long anymore, but they needed every last bit of sleep they could get. Akechi found himself curled up onto Ren’s chest again, listening to his heartbeat as he slowly drifted off to sleep.

He was still scared, scared of what’s to come. Scared of what’s to happen when his heart is changed. But he knew that there was nothing to worry about as long as he had Ren by his side. As long as he could hear his heartbeat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If my hand would've liked me I would've drawn something for this chapter as well... (Also the main reason I'm busy tomorrow btw...) But maybe I'll get to it later, I still have some ideas after all.
> 
> We're nearing the end!  
> See you next week! (Wednesday)


	8. Nearing the end

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm actually rather sick right now... But there's no way I will miss an update!
> 
> As always I hope you like it! We are entering the final location today after all!!

The morning came by way too soon for Ren. He woke up, feeling even more tired than he had ever done before. At first he didn’t quite know where he was, the bed was way too comfortable to be his own after all, but as soon as he saw the soft strands of brown hair on top of him he realised. Every last feeling of exhaustion he had had disappeared in an instant as well. Akechi was so cute like that, sleeping so softly on top of him.

Ren then remembered the texts he had sent last night, and he wondered whether he had gotten any replies. He tried his best to grab his phone without disturbing the sleeping ball of cuteness on top of him, and luckily ended up being successful.

He then began to read the chat logs, some reactions were given.

_Ren: ‘’Hey guys, I know it’s kinda late, but I’ve figured out the last location. Are you available for tomorrow?’’_

Ren went to sleep almost directly after, so he hadn’t seen any replies yet. Apparently some were still up around that time as well.

_Ryuji: ‘’Dude, it’s really late.’’_

_Futaba: ‘’Then why are you still up as well?’’_

_Ryuji: ‘’Shut up.’’_

_Ryuji: ‘’I was playing some games, just forgot the time.’’_

_Ann: ‘’I knew I should’ve put my phone on silent.’’_

_Ann: ‘’What are you guys talking about so late?!’’_

_Ann: ‘’Oh.’’_

_Futaba: ‘’Yeah, he’s figured it out.’’_

_Ryuji: ‘’Well, I’m free tomorrow. Don’t know about you guys.’’_

_Ann: ‘’I was planning to do some shopping, but this is more important.’’_

_Futaba: ‘’Isn’t it already considered later today though?’’_

_Futaba: ‘’But it’s not like I’ve ever gotten something else to do.’’_

_Ann: ‘’Let’s first see what everyone who sleeps normally has to say.’’_

_Ryuji: ‘’As if they truly do, Yusuke’s probably still awake as well, he always is.’’_

_Futaba: ‘’Well, that’s probably true.’’_

_Ann: ‘’We’ve been talking over the initial message a lot already though.’’_

_Ryuji: ‘’Should we repeat it or something?’’_

_Futaba: ‘’Leave it to me, go to sleep.’’_

_Futaba: ‘’For everyone checking in later: Ren has figured out the location and asks to meet tomorrow/later this day to steal Akechi’s heart, please respond.’’_

_Futaba: ‘’Everyone still here: Go away so that the others will see this message.’’_

There the messages of the late night must’ve ended. Most of them anyways. There were already three people to agree for tomorrow, which was a good sign for Ren. He continued reading.

_Yusuke: ‘’I was indeed still awake, I still am. I lost track of time while struck with inspiration.’’_

_Yusuke: ‘’But I have no objections with going either. Even when I haven’t slept that much.’’_

These messages were only from a few hours ago. Ren wondered whether Yusuke had gone to bed after.

The next few were more recent. These people have most likely just woken up.

_Haru: ‘’Why is everyone sleeping so badly?’’_

_Makoto: ‘’No idea, but I’m not surprised either.’’_

_Haru: ‘’I suppose so, but I’m kind of worried for them.’’_

_Makoto: ‘’Don’t be, they’re used to it.’’_

_Makoto: ‘’As for the heist being today…’’_

_Makoto: ‘’I personally have no objections to it, although the state of everyone is quite troublesome.’’_

_Haru: ‘’The sleeping issue is a thing then, you just told me not to worry.’’_

_Makoto: ‘’T-that’s not what I meant. Well, kind of. They will be able to function normally.’’_

_Makoto: ‘’As of fighting I’m not too sure.’’_

_Haru: ‘’I think we should do it.’’_

_Yusuke: ‘’I agree.’’_

_Makoto: ‘’Have you even slept at all, Yusuke?’’_

_Yusuke: ‘’Not much less than usual.’’_

_Haru: ‘’Well, that sounds troublesome.’’_

_Haru: ‘’But since everyone is in agreement everything should be fine, right?’’_

_Haru: ‘’Mona-chan says they should be able to manage as well.’’_

_Makoto: ‘’Alright then. I’ll see you all at Leblanc I guess.’’_

There the messages ended. Everyone seemed to have had a troublesome night. Ren wondered if that would affect them as well, but there was not much time left. Today was one of their last days. They had to do this.

_Ren: ‘’I’m glad to see everyone’s in agreement. I’ll see you guys soon then.’’_

He messaged. Then the brown ball on his chest began to move. ‘’What are you doing?’’ Akechi asked as he looked up, his eyes only half open, still half asleep.

Ren moved his head down to kiss Akechi’s forehead. ‘’Just reading some messages.’’ He said. ‘’But although I love it here, I can’t stay forever.’’ He added.

There was a hint of sadness into Akechi’s eyes. ‘’I know, but let me lay here just a little longer.’’ Akechi whispered as he laid his head down again.

Ren had no intention to fight it, it was pretty early in the morning as well. He began to pat the other’s head again, softly, as he thought about the day, about what’s to come.

 

About an hour later the two of them finally managed to get up. It didn’t take that long for the two to have finished a small breakfast, now sitting onto the couch again. ‘’I need to get going soon though.’’ Ren said as they sat down.

‘’Why? Can’t you stay here for a little longer?’’ Akechi asked. He didn’t want Ren to go, not yet.

Ren responded by getting something out of the pocket of his jacket, something Akechi immediately recognised. ‘’Here.’’ Ren said as he handed the piece of paper over.

As soon as Akechi held the calling card he was being given into his hands he became scared again. Terrified of change. Akechi read the entire thing, knowing that he needed to.

Ren then saw a quick glimpse of Akechi’s shadow. ‘’Let’s see whether you can hold yourselves against our deepest pains.’’ It said. Then the world returned back to normal.

Akechi was still staring at the card, unable to speak. ‘’You’re going to be okay, I promise.’’ Ren said. He then kissed the top of Akechi’s head. ‘’I won’t let anyone hurt you anymore, not even your own cognition.’’

‘’I-I’m still scared to change.’’ Akechi then said. His eyes slowly filled with tears again, but nothing came down. ‘’I’m scared I won’t be the same person anymore. Or that I might not be able to handle it.’’

Ren grabbed the hand which held the calling card and pulled it closer towards his face. ‘’You can always contact me, I’ll be there for you.’’ He said right before he kissed the back of the hand. ‘’And you’ve already changed, remember? So changing a bit more shouldn’t be too worrying, right?’’

Akechi nodded his head in response, resulting into a small smile of Ren. Ren then pulled Akechi in for another tight hug. ‘’But I’ll have to go, the others must be waiting by now.’’ Ren whispered softly.

They stayed like that for a few more moments before Akechi loosened, signing that it was alright to go. Ren stood up shortly after, walking towards the door to fix his shoes.

Akechi followed. Right before Ren opened the door Akechi grabbed the other’s hand to pull him in for a kiss one last time. One last time before he was going to be a changed person. The kiss was short, but Akechi was certain every feeling he had was portrayed within it.

‘’I’ll see you again soon.’’ Ren said as he walked out of the door, into the dorm hallways. He didn’t care about the people staring, he didn’t care about the whispers. The only thing he did care about was Akechi.

 

‘’Where have you been?’’ A voice asked as soon as Ren entered Leblanc. Everyone was already inside, waiting for him.

Ren walked further inside. ‘’Someone had to give him a calling card, you know.’’ He answered. Ren was still being honest, although the details weren’t entirely correct.

Futaba jumped up slightly. ‘’Sojiro said he didn’t see you leave. Meaning you must’ve been out for at least three hours.’’ She then said.

‘’If you even left this morning. You were still up pretty late last night as well.’’ Ryuji was teasing Ren a bit, he had a feeling he knew what happened.

Ren was uncertain of what to say. ‘’The details aren’t important.’’ He said. He didn’t want everyone to know what had happened, it might have an effect on their mission today if they did.

Ryuji simply smiled at Ren, knowing he was right. ‘’Alright then, if you say so, leader.’’

‘’We will get into this later though. Even if I have to retrace your phone.’’ Futaba threatened.

Luckily no one else decided to get into the subject more, so Ren was safe, for now.

‘’The place it pretty far away, so I guess it’s best for us to get going.’’ Ren then said, soon followed by their departure.

This was going to be their last time, their last time within Akechi’s palace. They were going to steal his treasure, they were going to save him.

 

They had to travel all the way to a different town to get there, which in itself was pretty far off from the city. No one had been at the place before, but when they arrived they all knew instantly where they needed to go.

A dark aura came off from the specific place, the house right in the middle of a small street. It wouldn’t have been at all a noticeable place if the aura wasn’t there, but now it was clear.

The group went out and found themselves at the front door. The door was big, bigger than a usual door should be. It was locked with three grand locks, luckily they had the keys.

Ren took the keys outside his pocket, holding them firmly into his hand before he moved. This was it, this was the moment he opened up Akechi’s deepest and darkest memory. The one where everything started, the one which formed the foundation for his mask.

He took a deep breath before he unlocked the first one. Soon the second one followed. He took his time again before moving on to the third, not knowing what was stopping him, but knowing something was.

‘I have to do this, whatever lies beyond this door, I have to conquer it and end this place. For him.’ Ren thought to himself as he moved on to the third lock, finally unlocking it with a loud click.

The whole group didn’t say a word during the entire scene in front of them, they themselves were scared of what’s to come as well. They also knew Ren had something else going on, a deeper connection, so no one asked.

The door then opened, the locks were the only thing holding it from doing so. No one moved, all were waiting for Ren, waiting to see whether he could.

Ren turned around and smiled at the group, the most sincere smile everyone has ever seen from him, but still not fully happy. ‘’Let’s end this.’’ He said.

The whole group nodded, now fully ready. Ren turned back around to walk inside, everyone following him with full confidence. They were going to do this, they were going to change Akechi’s heart.

But every bit of good mood they had found was completely lost the moment they went inside, since there they found the true pain Akechi had felt, the one he had held onto the longest.

The room was dark, but a mysterious glowing figure was seen seated inside, it was crying.

 

Akechi had been non-stop worrying ever since Ren had left him. He couldn’t focus on anything to distract himself either, so he ended up pacing around his room, scared. It was about two hours later when he fell to the ground. Not from exhaustion, but from the ever increasing headache.

This one was the worst. Every moment he had gone through in the past couple of times returned to him, firstly they were the voices. Then the vision of his teacher returned before his eyes. And just when he thought everything was over the third strike hit him, as he felt the pain spreading all over his body, just like he had felt so many times during his time in foster care.

Soon everything was over, but Akechi wasn’t able to stand up, he wasn’t able to move. He knew what was happening, they had opened the door. He became more and more anxious the more he thought about it, the more he realised they were getting closer.

He knew he needed to stay calm, but he couldn’t. Every part within his body told him to panic, to do something.

In the end Akechi did manage to get a hold of himself, but that did meant he had to hold his body into a tight ball onto the ground in order not to move. In order not to run away, to keep him from hurting himself.

 

Ren stopped walking as soon as he heard the soft sobs. He did manage to get a hold of himself to take a closer look to see what was going on.

In the middle of the dark room a young child was on his knees. The child had his back towards the group, but the sound made clear he was crying. He held something within his hands, something that appeared to be glowing. A discarded teddy bear laid next to the child as well.

The scene was heart-breaking, but Ren had seen it before by now. ‘’Hello, Goro? Are you okay?’’ Ren tried to speak to him, hoping he could manage to get some information from him.

The child in the middle of the room didn’t move, it only stopped crying.

‘’My name is Ren. We’re here to help you.’’ Ren tried again.

This time he did get more of a reaction, as the child stood up, picking up the bear in one hand as he held the glowing object in the other. He didn’t speak yet.

Ren took a step closer, while making sure everything was still okay. ‘’We need to know where the treasure is in this place, do you know?’’ Ren asked. He then remembered the glowing object. ‘’Is it the glowing thing in your hand?’’

The child turned around, his eyes glowing bright red. ‘’It is, but you’re not going to take it from me.’’ He said. ‘’Why would I ever give my most valuable item away, the only thing that I still have?’’ His voice became more and more distorted as he spoke.

‘’I don’t like the sound of this.’’ Makoto said as she realised what was about to happen.

Soon after the child made the object shrink, putting it away, and he stood right in front of the group. His eyes glowing bright red, his face slowly getting covered in some dark liquid. The teddy bear came to life as well, now resting on top of the child’s shoulder. Balls of light became to form underneath the child’s hands.

‘’Watch out!’’ Futaba yelled as soon as she realised what was going to happen, but the child already fired the balls, straight at Ren.

Luckily Yusuke was there to save him, jumping at him so that they could dodge. ‘’There’s no way I’m going to let them hurt you a second time.’’ Yusuke said right before he stood up, helping Ren as well.

‘’It seems we have no other choice than to fight him.’’ Morgana said as they all regrouped.

No one wanted to, no one wanted to fight a child. But they truly had no other choice. They discussed their plan of attack, but Ren didn’t notice a single thing of it. He was too lost in his own thoughts.

‘’Dude, you still there?’’ a hand was waving in front of Ren’s face, a hand which turned out to belong to Ryuji.

Ren took a moment to get back to reality. ‘’I suppose.’’ He answered. Technically he was still there after all.

Ryuji put his hand on the other’s shoulder. ‘’I know this is hard. No one likes to beat up a child like this. But just keep thinking about what the end result will be. And keep remembering it’s only a shadow.’’ He did his best to reassure his friend.

‘’Thank you. I know it shouldn’t bother me too much.’’ Ren spoke. ‘’Let’s get this done.’’ He tried to sound as confident as he could, but everyone knew he was faking.

Soon the group faced the child again, who was still standing strong in front of them. ‘’So, you’ve decided to try then.’’ The shadow spoke. ‘’Very well, let me crush you, just like how I was crushed.’’

And so a fight began. A fight which turned out to be a lot tougher than ever imagined.

 

‘’H-how is this shadow so strong?’’ Ann asked as she was down, everyone was down. They hadn’t even been fighting for so long, but the group was already too weak. Everyone realised their weaknesses, they were too weak to ever win this.

Ren stood up again, he had done this every single time. ‘’Dude, stop!’’ Ryuji yelled. ‘’You’re going to get yourself killed!’’

Ren simply looked into Ryuji’s direction, with the most determined look he had ever given to anyone in his entire life. ‘’I know.’’ He then said. ‘’But this is our one and only chance. If I die, I will.’’

No one dared to held Ren back, everyone knew it was useless. They didn’t have the strength to do so either way. The only thing they could do was watch as Ren charged in, his knife firmly into his hand, his eyes already knowing he wasn’t going to survive.

‘’So you’ve actually chosen to die, how interesting.’’ The shadow spoke as he held another ball of light up in his hand. Moments later he shot the ball, straight at Ren.

Then for a single moment the entire room lighted up, right before it went completely dark yet again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why do I always get Ren in danger like this? Why does it always seem to me like that is what he would do?...
> 
> I guess we have to wait another week to see if he survives this one as well...
> 
> Other topic, I have added a new picture again:  
> https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1rjcU11BgbE0rAVOIyC9XZu71YpGD4jzr?usp=sharing


	9. The letter that started it all

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Although I've been rather busy working for PegoRyu week (Maybe only deciding to participate a few days before the week starts wasn't the best of ideas...) I've still managed to bring this chapter out on time!
> 
> Hope you enjoy!!

Akechi felt something, he wasn’t sure what it was, but it didn’t feel good. Ren was doing something.

He hadn’t moved from his position, a ball on the ground. He was fully focusing on his own thoughts and mind by then, hoping he could feel it when things went down.

Up until that particular moment he hadn’t been able to feel a single thing, he was close to giving up. But then strong emotions began to fill him, strong emotions he couldn’t place. The only thing he could do was imagine what was going on.

He knew they were fighting, he knew his cognition wasn’t going to make it easy on them. He also knew about Ren’s strong convictions. About how he wanted to do this, whatever the costs.

Then it hit him what was going on. Ren was sacrificing himself.

‘’No!’’ He yelled out. ‘Everything but that!’ His thoughts continued.

Akechi was now able to feel the exact moment better, realising he was right. Tears were streaming down his face. ‘’Why can’t I do something?’’ He asked himself as he was crying.

And for a short moment he almost convinced himself he could hear another voice.

_‘’You already are.’’_

 

Ren was fully prepared to get blasted into the face, he was fully prepared to die. He would rather die than live while failing. But the ball never reached him. He just stood there, in confusion, before a voice spoke to him.

‘’Didn’t I tell you to be careful or something?’’ It was the shadow Akechi. He had pulled his force field trick again.

Ren was still confused, not expecting him to be there. ‘’I’m not sure if you’ve really told me. But what are you doing here?’’ He asked. Ren had no idea what to think of this sudden twist, but he decided he should see it as a sign. A sign which told him not to die just yet.

The shadow turned around, his face was now fully visible. ‘’Saving your ass, it seems.’’ He smiled while saying so. ‘’Let’s pull back for a moment and regroup.’’ He suggested. Shadow Akechi had a plan, it was visible in his eyes. Ren realised the shadow could be proven to be a valuable asset to a possible turnaround.

 

Everyone gathered together, shadow Akechi protecting them with the shield he had been using before. ‘’What happened to the mask?’’ Yusuke asked as he noticed the shadow wasn’t wearing one anymore.

‘’Not important right now.’’ Ren answered. He didn’t feel like explaining what happened to Akechi last night, it would take way too long. ‘’Akechi, you seemed to have a plan, explain.’’ He focussed his attention towards the shadow.

‘’Well, it’s rather simple actually. You guys attack and I’ll protect.’’ The shadow said. ‘’I do appear to have some unique powers around the place.’’

‘’But aren’t we already too weak right now?’’ Haru spoke. Everyone was already badly injured from the fight they’ve had, so even if they did get in it was hard to tell whether they could actually make some damage.

Shadow Akechi simply smiled. ‘’Ah, yes, I’ve forgotten.’’ He put up his hand, over the entire group, as it began to glow. Soon they all felt a lot better, their wounds disappearing. ‘’I have healing powers as well.’’ He added.

‘’Can we really trust this guy?’’ Morgana asked. He wasn’t certain of it yet. Trusting the actual ruler of a palace to the extent of taking down a cognitive being was something he had never imagined to see before. Even when that ruler had proven to be trustworthy throughout several occasions.

‘’Of course we can. He had saved our leader’s ass twice already now.’’ Ryuji exclaimed.

Makoto chuckled softly by Ryuji’s choice of words. ‘’And besides, it’s not like we have another option. It’s either this or we fail.’’

‘’And failing is not an option.’’ Ren added.

Futaba just gave him a disappointed look. ‘’I know, I know. You would rather die than failing. But at least try to be careful.’’ She said to him.

‘’Are we all in agreement then?’’ Shadow Akechi asked as soon as the conversation appeared to be over.

Everyone nodded in response, even Morgana. ‘’Let’s go then!’’ Ren yelled. He was almost excited, he now had a real chance. Now was the time, the time they were going to end it all.

 

The odds of the battle had completely turned now that shadow Akechi had joined their side. Even though it took a long time to really hurt the child, they were now no longer getting hit so easily. And when they did they got up within moments. The battle went flawless, soon the child was defeated, returning to the original position they found him in, crying on the floor.

Ren looked towards Akechi, who nodded, before walking towards the child. ‘’We’re only here to take it to help you.’’ He said. ‘’Please, let me help you.’’

‘’M-my mom.’’ The child manage to speak out.

Ren was shot straight through his heart. He realised what this exact moment represented. It was the moment Akechi had realised his mother had died. ‘’I know.’’ Were the only words he managed to say. He didn’t know what else he could do, there was no way to lighten this situation.

The child looked up to him, his eyes has stopped glowing. ‘’You do?’’ He asked.

Before Ren managed to speak Akechi’s shadow moved up towards the two. ‘’He does, most of it at least.’’ He said.

Ren didn’t know why the shadow had interfered, there must’ve been something he was still hiding. Something Ren didn’t know. ‘’You’re me, aren’t you?’’ The child was now focussed onto Akechi. ‘’The glowing thing is your size.’’ He added.

They didn’t know what that meant, not until the child revealed what the thing, the treasure, was. It was a golden mask. The perfect mask. ‘’Of course it is.’’ Shadow Akechi spoke. He slowly took it from the child, who didn’t hesitate to let go.

‘’Are you going to try it on?’’ The child ask. It apparently hoped Akechi would.

But Akechi shook his head before he handed the mask over to Ren. ‘’I’m free of my mask now. Just like you will soon be free from your pain.’’ He said towards the child.

His eyes became wide. ‘’I never expected myself to say that. Not after this.’’ The child said.

‘’Me neither.’’ Shadow Akechi said. ‘’It’s all because of this guy here though. We couldn’t have done it without him.’’ He put a hand on Ren’s shoulder.

The child looked up and smiled at Ren. ‘’In that case I suppose I should thank you.’’ He said. He began to glow a golden light. ‘’Thank you for helping us.’’ He said, right before he disappeared.

 

Soon they had all regrouped, shadow Akechi still being with them. ‘’So the treasure is a mask, a golden one?’’ Ryuji asked.

‘’For now at least. You do remember that they tend to transform while coming in the real world, right?’’ Ann reacted. They were almost certain it wasn’t going to stay a mask, it had to be something else.

Shadow Akechi took a small step forwards towards the group. ‘’I have a hunch what it’s going to be. Therefore I would like to ask all of you something.’’ The shadow sounded serious, it was something important.

Everyone looked at each other, no one knew what to expect. ‘’Of course. What is it?’’ Haru eventually asked.

‘’I want Ren to hold on to the item, no one of you question its contents.’’ The shadow said. What he asked for was vague for the others, they didn’t even know what the treasure would be. But there was a sense of urgency in his voice, one which made them realise it was a serious thing.

‘’Alright then. I see no harm in that. We will still get it out of here after all.’’ Yusuke was the first to respond. And soon everyone agreed. Although they didn’t know why it was asked from them, they could see the shadow had a reason. A reason he didn’t want to share. They had gone through enough of Akechi’s darkest secrets already, he was still allowed to have some.

Morgana had stepped into the group, he had held himself at a slight distance the entire time. ‘’Let’s get out of here then. We’ve nothing left to do after all.’’ He said.

They all agreed, soon following each other towards the exit. But Akechi’s shadow grabbed Ren’s arm just before he was out of reach. ‘’You have to make sure to take a look though, you have to know.’’ He said.

Ren turned around to look him in the eyes, the eyes that were finally fully visible now that his mask was gone. ‘’Of course, if that’s what you wish for.’’ He said. Then the shadow let go of his arm so he could walk away.

Ren only sat a few steps before turning around again. ‘’Thank you by the way. Without your strength we wouldn’t have made it.’’ He said towards the shadow.

Shadow Akechi’s eyes began to tear up slightly, one drop falling along his cheek. ‘’How do you always manage to hit my feelings this well?’’ He asked Ren.

‘’Because we love each other obviously.’’ Ren responded. The shadow smiling brightly at that responds.

It soon began to glow, a bright golden glow, as it was disappearing. ‘’That should be it.’’ He said right before he was fully gone.

‘’Dude, are you coming?’’ Ryuji yelled at the door. Ren was still standing in the middle of the room, uncertain about what the treasure would be. Wondering why Akechi wanted him to know what was inside.

Ren decided the only way to figure out the truth was to see for himself, as soon as he returned.

 

They soon found themselves back in Leblanc. ‘’I wonder when we will see effects.’’ Haru said as they were back.

‘’I’ll text him to see if he’s at least okay.’’ Ren responded. He knew Akechi was worried, so he knew he had to text him to tell him it was all over.

Futaba almost jumped at him the moment he grabbed his phone. ‘’That reminds me. We weren’t done talking.’’ She said. ‘’How long have you been at his place?’’

Ann chuckled slightly. ‘’I almost forgot about that. You also said some pretty interesting things to that shadow.’’ She said.

Ren then realised everyone had heard him talk the last time he spoke Akechi’s shadow. Everyone knew.

‘’I have to agree. And we haven’t even talked about your self-destructive manners when it comes to him.’’ Makoto added.

Ren was going to be destroyed. Everyone knew, they weren’t going to let him go before he had answered every question they had left. ‘’Let me send a text first. I’ll explain later.’’ He said.

Soon he found himself surrounded by all his friends, everyone asking him questions in turn. Ryuji turned out to be quite disappointed when he figured out nothing sexual happened, but beside everyone seemed somewhat happy. That was until Ren told them about how he took Akechi to his own palace.

‘’That could’ve gone so wrong.’’ Morgana commented. ‘’We have to little experience with this. That was way too dangerous.’’

‘’But it did turn out fine it seems.’’ Yusuke reacted.

Ren smiled. ‘’It was more than just fine.’’ He said, which resulted into question looks from all around him. ‘’He’s the reason his shadow wasn’t wearing his mask anymore today. Akechi broke it.’’

Shocked eyes now looked at Ren. No one expected that to be the reason. But everyone was happy to hear it, everyone was happy to hear Akechi had changed himself as well.

It didn’t take long before the conversation was over and everyone left. No one wanted to bother Ren any longer, they now knew how emotionally invested he really was.

Ren then checked his phone to see if Akechi had replied, and to his surprise he hadn’t. This frightened Ren, he had no idea what to expect.

He tried calling Akechi, hoping he was just not looking at his phone at the moment, but Akechi didn’t pick up. He tried a second time, and a third, but no reply came.

Ren became anxious, worried that something had happened. After he had called a fifth time he decided there was only one thing he could do.

He ran straight out of Leblanc, towards the station. He needed to see if Akechi was still okay, if he was still alive.

 

As soon as Ren was nearing the right station he realised something. There was no way he was going to get inside Akechi’s room without him opening the door. But he had to. He came to the conclusion that he was going to ask others if he had, everything to see him.

Ren was now at the building as he first walked around it, it was only to check something. Luckily he was right. Akechi’s window was open, albeit a slight bit. Ren ran up the fire escape stairs and climbed through.

At first it looked like no one was there, the room was empty, the room was quiet. But as soon as Ren stepped forwards to check the other rooms he saw.

Akechi laid down at the middle of the floor, eyes closed, h=not moving. Ren was unable to move for a moment, he was in shock. This was precisely what he had feared for.

After he had regained some control of himself again Ren kneeled down to check on Akechi. ‘Was he still alive? Please tell me he’s still alive.’ These were the only thoughts that crossed his mind. He could never forgive himself if something had happened to Akechi, it would’ve been his fault after all.

Ren was quick to find Akechi still had a heartbeat, he was still breathing as well. Ren was relieved, very relieved, but he still had to do something. He couldn’t leave Akechi here, but they couldn’t stay here alone either.

Ren decided to call Sojiro, hoping he could help.

‘’Hey, sorry to call you like this.’’ Ren started to talk.

_‘’Why did you ran out like that all of a sudden? Even Futaba is worried.’’_ Sojiro responded.

Ren wondered whether Futaba had heard him ran off as well. ‘’I’m sorry. But about that, I need some help.’’

Sojiro seemed quiet for a moment. _‘’What is it?’’_

‘’Can you come pick me up, alongside someone else?’’ Ren asked.

_‘’Don’t be so vague. Where are you? What happened?_ ’’ Sojiro now sounded slightly annoyed, Ren didn’t blame him.

Now Ren took a moment to reply. ‘’Akechi’s place. He’s unconscious. I can’t let him stay here.’’ He explained.

Quietness on the other side of the line. _‘’Alright then, send me the address.’’_ Sojiro eventually answered.

‘’I will, thank you!’’ Ren was actually close to crying, and his voice made that clear as well.

Sojiro let out a small chuckle. _‘’No need to get so emotional. I was about to close up anyways. A small detour doesn’t hurt.’’_

 

It didn’t take long for Sojiro to arrive at the place. No one dared to question him walking inside, he was an adult after all, and after Ren became within sight again the people around began to look really confused again, but no one dared to speak a word again. ‘’He’s right here.’’ Ren spoke to Sojiro as he led him towards the right room, he had met him halfway the hallways.

Moments later they were seen carrying Akechi out of his room, Ren making sure the place was properly locked before they left. No one around knew what happened, but no one asked either. Everyone let them have their way, walking out without question. ‘’These kids are quite something. We could’ve easily abducted him without anyone caring.’’ Sojiro commented as they arrived at the car.

Ren went to sit in the back seat with Goro’s head laying on top of him. ‘’Sadly they do not really care for him that much. Or it’s because they’ve seen me there before.’’ Ren responded as he began to stroke Akechi’s hair softly. ‘’Either way it did make it a lot easier.’’

‘’You want him to stay in your room?’’ Sojiro asked as he began to drive. ‘’Shouldn’t he see a doctor first?’’

Although Ren was certain a doctor wouldn’t be able to help at the moment he knew it would ease Sojiro’s mind a bit if he did. ‘’I can ask Takemi to come over.’’ He responded, already pulling out his phone to type the message.

‘’You really are some weird kid.’’ Sojiro said. They then spent the rest of the journey in silence, Ren still silently stroking Akechi’s hair, hoping he would wake up soon.

 

Akechi was still unconscious by the time they were back at Leblanc, which meant they had to carry him inside. Takemi came around almost directly after. She concluded he had most likely fainted due to some emotional shock or overload. There was nothing they could do besides waiting for him to wake up. But it wasn’t life threatening either, Akechi was going to wake up sooner or later.

‘’I’ll let you be then. Call me when you need anything, alright?’’ Sojiro said as he began to make his way to his own home.

Soon Ren found himself alone, alone with an unconscious Akechi laying in his bed. He himself was seated at a chair right in front of the bed, making sure to be there when Akechi woke up.

Then Ren remembered something, something really important. The treasure. He quickly felt into his pockets to see if anything was there, and to his surprise he felt some paper.

He took the paper out, it was folded. He was scared to open it. Opening it meant he knew Akechi’s latest secret, the reason everything began.

_‘’You have to make sure to take a look though, you have to know.’’_

The voice of Akechi’s shadow ran through his head. He had told him to look at it, he had told him that he needed to.

Ren slowly unfolded the paper to take a look, it was a letter. The letter was addressed to a woman, a woman Ren guessed was Akechi’s mother. It was short, but powerful.

 

_I have tried to let the two of you live in peace, but that has apparently failed._

_I’ve heard the whole town now knows about ‘our’ child._

_You know that’s something I do not appreciate._

_Therefore I will no longer support any of your finances, you will be homeless within months._

_This is what happens when you don’t do as I say._

_This is what happens when you cross me._

_There obviously is an easier way out, the question is whether you would chose it or not._

_You will need to leave our ‘precious’ child after all._

_Sincerely,_

_Masayoshi Shido_

Ren was already crying halfway through the letter, but the end left him uneasy. He knew that name, although he didn’t remember why. There was something in this man’s way of speech that had him realised he knew him as well. But there was nothing Ren could do to remember.

The letter in itself was awful. Masayoshi Shido being the one to suggest Akechi’s mother to end her own life. No wonder Akechi became so distorted at such a young age, the letter even specifies she had to leave him. And yet she still choose to do so.

‘’Why are you crying?’’ A voice asked, a voice Ren didn’t expect.

Ren looked up to see Akechi stare at him, he looked weak. ‘’You’re awake!’’ Ren was already too emotional, so to see his lover awaken just at that moment did something to him.

Akechi smiled weakly. ‘’I suppose so.’’ He said. ‘’What’s that paper?’’ He then asked.

‘’I-it’s…’’ Ren was uncertain how to say it. He knew how much pain this particular paper had brought Akechi, but he didn’t want to keep any secrets either.

But somehow Akechi seemed to understand. ‘’The treasure.’’ He almost whispered. ‘’So it was the letter after all. Did you read it?’’

‘’Yes, I did. Your shadow told me to do so.’’ Ren said. He still felt like he had invaded the other’s privacy, after the things he has just read.

Another small smile formed on Akechi’s face. ‘’No need to justify it. I’m glad you did.’’ He then said. ‘’I’ll explain the detail to you if you want, after you get off that stupid chair.’’ He added.

The hint was clear. Akechi himself tried to sit up straight as Ren came over his way. Ren got around Akechi to take him into his arms, pulling Akechi’s back close to his chest. ‘’Tell me.’’ He whispered softly.

Akechi then told Ren everything there was left to tell, everything he didn’t know. About Shido, about his plans, even all about Akechi’s murders.

‘’I-I don’t want to do any of this anymore.’’ Akechi said after he was done explaining. ‘’I don’t want to murder anyone. I don’t want to hide.’’ Tears began to roll down his cheeks.

Ren pulled Akechi even closer. ‘’I know. And you don’t need to anymore.’’ He whispered softly.

‘’But, if I don’t they will find me. Shido will kill me.’’ Akechi decided to protest.

But Ren already had a new plan set up. ‘’Not if we do something about him first.’’

Akechi knew exactly what the other meant by that, and he also knew there was no way he could protest. Ren’s eyes were filled with determination, there was no way to change his mind.

But then, Akechi didn’t want to. Somewhere Ren’s plan was exactly what he wanted as well. Their conversation didn’t continue. They went to lie down to sleep, sleep into each other’s arms again. It was the only thing they wanted at the moment, to be close to one another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This would've been a sufficient ending, wouldn't it?
> 
> Of course my mind decided that it wanted to finish everything up, including what would happen next...
> 
> See you next week for the ultimate conclusion! :)


	10. Reuniting with fate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And after all these weeks we've arrived at the final chapter.  
> And of course I couldn't let it end in just any way that isn't the one you will see here...
> 
> I suppose the titel of the chapter already says enough...
> 
> Good luck reading! Don't hate me too much.

There were still some issues that needed to be resolved in order for Ren’s plan to change Shido to succeed. The first and most important one being the planned arrest for the Phantom thieves. There was no way that was going to be called off so easily.

The very next morning Ren had invited Makoto over to talk about their strategies. Morgana was also present.

‘’You’re saying there’s no way to get them off our backs right now?’’ Morgana asked after Akechi explained the current situation.

‘’There is not, sadly. They have their own way of getting in to the metaverse as well when needed, if they figure out I went wrong they will also get here as soon as possible.’’ Akechi had thought of every single possibility, every single one. But he couldn’t figure out how to get out.

Makoto was thinking. ‘’Sis wouldn’t be able to let anything go either. Not without a good reason. If only we could get her on our side.’’ She said.

‘’What if we use everyone to our advantage?’’ Ren eventually asked. Everyone looked at him, confused. ‘’If the police think they got me, they won’t look for anyone, right?’’

Morgana and Makoto looked worried, but Akechi was just smiling brightly. ‘’That’s perfect.’’ Akechi said.

‘’Wouldn’t Ren be trapped in a cell then?’’ Makoto asked.

Another smile formed on Akechi’s face, this one being a little more sinister. ‘’Not if I kill him first.’’ He said.

And with those words they soon formed a plan. A plan in which Akechi was still believed to be following orders, the Phantom thieves were out of the sights of the police and Sae might joined their side. It was a risky plan, but they all hoped it was worth it.

 

‘’Sae does think you’re evil now, you know.’’ Ren said, smiling brightly, as Akechi walked into the interrogation room.

‘’We can explain it to her later. But since I’ve been here I suppose I can leave directly as well.’’ Akechi was teasing Ren just as much as the other did.

Akechi had already turned back around before Ren spoke again. ‘’No goodbye kiss? I mean, you did just kill me.’’ He said.

Akechi shook his head slightly as he turned back around to walk towards the other. He then quickly kissed the other’s lips. ‘’I can’t stay much longer, but you will get every kiss you want as soon as you get back.’’ Akechi said as soon as their lips separated again.

‘’I’ll definitely remember that promise.’’ Ren whispered. ‘’See you soon.’’

Akechi soon left the room again, desperately hoping Sae would co-operate with their plan.

 

Luck became a great part of their plan, but their gamble did seem successful in the end. Ren soon found himself brought back to Leblanc by a somewhat confused, but co-operative, Sae. Sojiro was just as confused.

‘’How?’’ He simply asked as soon as the two of them walked through the doors. He was at a complete loss for words. Just a moment before he was called, told Ren had died, but he was standing right in front of him right now.

Sae was already leaving. ‘’I don’t have the time to stay and explain, but I’m sure this boy can do a much better job anyways. I’ll be back soon.’’ She spoke as she walked out again.

Ren was smiling nervously. ‘’It is quite the story actually.’’ He said as he went to sit down at the bar. ‘’I will explain some parts right now, but the rest should wait until Sae is back. I don’t feel like explaining everything twice.’’

Sojiro wanted to disagree, but he decided against it. The boy in front of him seemed tired, his face all bruised up. He had been through a lot already, he needed to rest. ‘’Alright. I’ll make you some coffee then.’’ He eventually said.

Ren began to explain some of the basics of his escape, but he couldn’t get into too much details, he was way too tired. ‘’In short the world now thinks I’ve killed myself while Sae-san had actually smuggled me out.’’ He finished.

The place was quiet for a moment. Sojiro took his time to take everything in. ‘’And your boyfriend killed you?’’ He then asked.

‘’Yes, yes he did. He was pretty good at it as well.’’ Ren said, smiling. He thought back of the moments within the interrogation room with Akechi. How he wanted to see him soon again.

The only thing Sojiro could do was laugh. ‘’You guys truly are something special.’’ He then said. ‘’Explain the details later, go and rest a bit.’’

 

The following morning Ren had woken up from a sound rather close to him. He immediately sat up straight, afraid.

‘’No need to be so scared, it’s just me.’’ The sound of the voice calmed Ren down instantly, who went to lie down again.

‘’Hey Goro, didn’t expect you here so early.’’ Ren then said towards the other, who was now sitting at his side on the bed.

Akechi smiled softly. ‘’It isn’t that early anymore, you know.’’ He moved his head to place a quick kiss on the other’s forehead. ‘’The others will be here soon. You should probably get ready.’’

‘’Only if you give me one more kiss.’’ Ren’s eyes seemed to hold a playful glister. ‘’You promised I would get any kiss I want after all.’’

And yet again, Akechi shook his head slightly as he leaned back in. This time going for the other’s lips. Akechi could feel the small wounds on the other’s lips as they were moving, but he decided not to think about it. He would only feel guilty about it when he did.

Soon after they broke the kiss again. ‘’Even if I say so myself, that was quite a good kiss for a dead person, right?’’ Ren asked teasingly.

Akechi stood up in one smooth motion. ‘’Just get ready.’’ He said. He could still hear Ren laugh softly as Akechi walked downstairs to wait for him.

 

‘’What is he doing here?!’’

The yelling voice, which appeared to belong to Sae, was a sign for Ren to go downstairs. As he walked down the stairs he saw utter shock in her eyes, the rest of the group unable to explain what was going on. Everyone was already there. ‘’Are you okay?’’ Ren asked as soon as he arrived.

‘’Of course I’m not okay. You convince me Akechi is going to kill you, which is why I needed to get you out, and now I find the boy sitting casually between the rest of you guys!’’ Sae took a deep breath before speaking again. ‘’I hope you have a damn good explanation for this, or else I put you back into jail personally.’’

Ren went to sit beside Akechi as he was smiling brightly. ‘’Of course I can explain.’’ He then began to tell her, and Sojiro, their entire plan. How it was vital for them to get Sae onto their side, how the only way possible was to make her believe Akechi was still evil.

‘’So, you’ve actually changed his heart as well?’’ Sae asked as soon as Ren was finished explaining. ‘’I’m amazed you managed to keep that a secret from me.’’

‘’What are you guys planning to do now though? I at least do suppose your plan doesn’t stop here.’’ Sojiro began to ask. He had been quiet the entire time.

Makoto was now the one to speak, as she noticed Ren began to become tired again. ‘’We have a new target, one who is truly behind all the murders and mental breakdowns.’’ She said.

‘’There was someone else involved?’’ Sae asked. ‘’Who is it?’’

Akechi took a deep breath. It was his story, so he was the one that needed to tell them. ‘’Masayoshi Shido. He is the one that made me do all those things.’’

‘’Shido…’’ Sojiro said. ‘’I knew he was one day going to be causing trouble.’’

‘’The research facility right? I’ve heard you two used to know each other.’’ Akechi responded.

Then Makoto spoke again. ‘’We’re going to change Shido’s heart. Both to save this country from a possible distorted leader as to finalize the saving of Akechi.’’

Ren put his arm around Akechi as soon as Makoto finished her words. ‘’His mind is already changed, but he’s still in danger. The people who once hired Goro would gladly want him dead as soon as they figure out he has turned.’’ He spoke.

Sae focussed her attention towards Akechi. ‘’Are you going under as well then?’’ She asked.

‘’Not yet. I will as soon as I get assigned a new task I can’t stretch though. But to have someone who is still considered close to Shido as we are taking him down is an advantage we can’t waste.’’ Akechi responded.

‘’You guys are way too reckless.’’ Sae said as he shook her head. ‘’Promise me you will at least be careful, all of you, and ask for help if you need anything. Sometimes adults aren’t that bad, sometimes they can help.’’

Soon the conversation drifted off again. The group decided to continue their Shido plan tomorrow.

 

After some struggles they did manage to get inside the palace. The giant ship scared Akechi, his father truly was a terrifying man.

‘’May I ask you something?’’ Ren asked one night as Akechi stayed over at his place, the two of them laying in the rather small bed together.

Akechi turned to face the other. ‘’Of course, what is it?’’ He asked.

‘’Did you think about going into Shido’s palace by yourself?’’ Ren then asked. It was something he has been rather curious about for some time. If Akechi truly hated Shido that much he should’ve at least thought about triggering a mental shutdown or something within him once.

Akechi looked away for a moment, before regaining eye contact. ‘’I did think about it once, but I figured it was useless.’’ He then responded. ‘’That man has more knowledge about the cognitive world than anyone. I was way too afraid he had some sort of defence mechanism set up, I still fear for that as well.’’

A hand brushed over the side of Akechi’s face. ‘’So far we haven’t encountered anything of the sort, but even if we do we will manage to defeat it.’’ Ren spoke softly. He knew why Akechi was so afraid, he was scared too. But they had gone through a lot worse situations already, this one wasn’t going to hurt that bad anymore. They would be able to conquer anything by now.

‘’I sincerely hope you’re right.’’ Akechi responded. He shifted closer towards the other. His head now against Ren’s chest. It became a habit of Akechi to listen to Ren’s heartbeat whenever he was anxious about something, and so far it has never failed to calm him down.

Ren kissed the top of Akechi’s head one last time before drifting off to sleep. There was no use in worrying about possible troubles. The only thing they could do was progress and see what would happen anyways. There was only one thing Ren was absolutely certain about. He would do anything within his power to make sure his Goro wouldn’t be hurt in any way.

 

Shido’s palace was taxing, but eventually they did manage to get a hold of all the letters they needed to get inside the room which held the treasure. If only things ended up being that simple.

As they made their way back the group heard a voice, one which was oddly familiar.

‘’So, you’ve actually betrayed Shido then.’’ The voice spoke.

Everyone turned to see the copy of Akechi standing behind them. ‘’You got any problems with that?’’ The actual Akechi eventually reacted, after he had recovered from his initial shock.

Cognitive Akechi shook his head as he drew his gun. ‘’Of course I do. We can’t betray our boss. We would do anything for him after all.’’ He spoke.

Akechi took a step forwards, Ren tried to grab his arm, but he missed. ‘’May I presume you are Shido’s defence mechanism against possible intruders, against me?’’ He asked.

The cognitive Akechi simply laughed. ‘’Of course I am. What did you expect? We are the perfect one for the job, aren’t we?’’ His laughter continued.

Ren stepped forwards as well, making sure to grab Akechi’s hand tight. ‘’Be careful, please.’’ He asked pleadingly. There was no way to know how strong this new entity was.

The one on front of them only began to laugh louder. ‘’You actually have people who care for you now? That’s new.’’ The laugh almost became maniacal.

Within a flash a gunshot was heard. Ren had pulled the trigger shooting the laughing one in front of them. ‘’Yes, he does. Now disappear before I make you suffer.’’ Ren’s eyes were dark again as he spoke. Akechi himself had never seen those eyes before, but everyone else in the group knew what they meant by now.

A moment of silence was quickly filled by even more laughter, and another gunshot. This time it only was coming from the same side. ‘’Ren!’’ Akechi yelled as he realised where the shot had gone through.

‘’Don’t underestimate me!’’ Cognitive Akechi yelled. ‘’A shot to the shoulder doesn’t do me anything.’’

Akechi couldn’t even hear his cognitive self anymore. He was only focussed on Ren who had fallen back into his arms. ‘’I’m okay. He didn’t hit me that well either.’’ Ren responded. ‘’But he’s definitely going to pay for this. Please stay back, my love, I won’t be long.’’ He then added as he stood firmly onto his feet again. The darkness filling his eyes even more than ever before.

No one could stop him, no one had the time. He was already charging, knife in hand, before anyone even realised what was going on. ‘’And yet you still seem to underestimate my powers, interesting.’’ Cognitive Akechi spoke as he saw Ren running towards him.

The cognitive being held his gun in his hand, and shot right before Ren was within range to stab him. ‘’Now you must be done, right?’’ He spoke as he lowered the gun. Only Ren didn’t slow down just yet, he first continued to charge until he managed to put a knife into the cognition in front of him. He only fell down while doing so, therefore only hitting the stomach.

‘’Ren!!! NO!’’ Akechi yelled as soon as he heard the shot and saw his boyfriend go down. ‘’You’ll pay for this!’’ Now he was the one filled with anger, he had never felt like this before. This pure rage coming from the love for another person, it was completely foreign to him. But he knew the only thing he wanted to do was shoot the shit out of his copy version, no matter what.

Cognitive Akechi had returned to laughing again. ‘’You know, he is still alive. If you come and get him you might still get a chance to save this cute boy.’’ He teased Akechi. The only goal the cognition had was to separate Akechi to kill him as well, and Akechi himself knew that, but something within him told him to go.

Akechi took a step forwards. ‘’Dude, don’t!’’ Ryuji yelled as soon as he did.

‘’It’s obviously a trap!’’ Makoto added.

Akechi turned around to face the group for a moment. ‘’I know, just let me fight this bastard so that he will be distracted enough you can get Ren to safety.’’ Akechi spoke softly, but he was determined.

The same darkness the group had seen in the eyes of their leader was now seen within Akechi, which made them realise his mind wasn’t going to change either. They nodded in agreement, which signed Akechi to turn around and move towards his fake self again.

‘’So you are coming here!’’ Cognitive Akechi sounded excited as he spoke. ‘’Let’s make this an interesting fight then.’’

As Akechi walked forwards his appearance began to change, his light clothes he had been wearing were replaced by his other, much darker, outfit. ‘’Yes, let’s.’’ He said as he looked back up, his eyes dark as the night. His mind all made up. He was going all-out for this battle, and he was going to protect the one he loved at all costs. ‘’Arise, Loki!’’

 

Ren didn’t know what had happened, he only knew he felt weak. He tried to move his body, his eyes being too heavy to open. ‘’Don’t you dare to move!’’ A voice said to him, a voice rather close. He couldn’t figure out who the voice belonged to, but it seemed to hold concern within it.

Obviously Ren wasn’t going to listen that easily. He shifted again slightly, this time he felt a sharp pain coming from his stomach. ‘’Stop being so stubborn, you can’t do anything like that.’’ Another voice said. Ren’s hearing began to come back slightly, but he still couldn’t recognise who was talking.

Then another thought hit him. ‘G-Goro?’’ Ren managed to speak out, weakly. Apparently it had some effect, since all the voices around him became quiet.

‘’He’s trying to protect you right now. Let him do so and rest.’’ Someone spoke.

Ren’s memories came back, and he realised what was happening. He had gained enough strength to open up his eyes, albeit for a small moment, so see for himself. And there he saw a figure, one in an appearance he had never seen before, but very recognisable at the same time, fighting the one he himself wanted to end before.

Ren tried his best to stay conscious and look at the fight, but his eyes were getting heavier. He wondered whether he himself was going to survive this at all. ‘’Why… Why aren’t you helping him?’’ He then asked.

There was a moment of silence, Ren couldn’t see the others, but he was guessing they were all looking at each other. ‘’We can’t.’’ A voice finally spoke.

‘’We will as soon as we have healed you, okay?’’ Another said as soon as they saw the shocked expression upon Ren’s face.

 

Even after Ren was supposedly fully healed, he was still rather weak. But at least he was now able to stand by himself and look more closely at what was going on. And just at that moment things were going down drastically.

Akechi was downed. He seemed exhausted. ‘’See, you can’t win against me. Just give up and do what you have to do.’’ His cognitive self spoke to him as he handed Akechi his gun back. ‘’Kill them and return to Shido’s side. It’s the only way for you to survive this after all.’’

Ren saw what was going on, and he was ready to run towards the two at any moment. ‘’Don’t you dare to come close to me! Any of you!’’ Akechi yelled towards the group. ‘’Keep Ren away at all costs, he will end up killing himself if you let him go.’’

Then Akechi took a deep breath, before speaking once again. ‘’I suppose I don’t have any other option.’’ He pointed the gun into the direction of the group. ‘’I’m sorry, please remember that I have always loved you, Ren.’’

A gunshot was heard within the room shortly after, but no person was hit. ‘’Goro!! What are you doing?!’’ Ren yelled as he was restrained by the members of his group. He was in tears, he already knew what was happening, but he didn’t want to believe it.

A smile formed on Akechi’s face. ‘’Just returning the favour.’’ Were the last words that were being heard before the shutter doors he had shot closed off.

‘’You, you actually sacrificed yourself?’’ The cognitive Akechi asked. ‘’I must say, that is one pathetic strategy.’’

Akechi sat against the doors. ‘’No, it isn’t. They have saved me before, it’s only fair if I save them as well.’’ He spoke. ‘’Especially Ren, he had always been ready to sacrifice himself for me, now it’s my turn.’’

‘’If that’s how you want to meet your end. I would say it was quite a useless thing for them to try and save you then, but that doesn’t matter.’’ Cognitive Akechi spoke as he drew his gun. ‘’They will be killed the very next time I see them here anyways.’’

‘’Saving me wasn’t useless. They’ve freed me from my mind, so that I can die in peace. I obviously would’ve rather lived, but this isn’t that bad either.’’ Akechi seemed like he was fully ready to die.

But as soon as his cognitive self seemed like he was about to shoot Akechi drew his own gun as well.

 

‘’Goro!!! NO!’’ As soon as the doors were shut Ren was released. He ran straight towards them, only to collapse right in front. ‘’I was the one who did these type of stupid things, not you!’’ Tears fell down from his face, no sign of them stopping any time soon.

Everyone else didn’t know what to do. They knew it must’ve been heart-breaking for their leader, but no one had enough experience to say anything. The only thing they could do was stare and watch.

‘’You were finally free! We had done everything we could to save you!! And yet you still die?!’’ Ren’s sobbing became louder with every word he spoke. ‘’I only wanted to protect you! But in the end, it seems that became your downfall as well.’’

Two gunshots were being heard on the other side of the door. Ren was unable to move, he knew what had happened.

‘’I knew I used to be way too reckless, but that didn’t mean you needed to take that over from me.’’ Ren’s voice became softer, but his tears remained. ‘’You weren’t even able to get your revenge on your father.’’

It took a while, but Ryuji joined Ren’s side. ‘’Dude, I know I can never say anything to make up for this, but at least know that this is what Akechi wanted.’’ He put his arm around the sobbing other, stroking his back softly in an attempt to calm him down a bit.

Ren looked up at his best friend. ‘’Do you think it could’ve ended another way? Do you think he could’ve lived if we didn’t interfere with his life?’’ He asked.

‘’I-I don’t know.’’ Ryuji answered honestly. ‘’But I do know that we did everything to help him, and I know that he was happy being at your side. I don’t think he would’ve been happy at all if we didn’t go to his palace, whether he would’ve survived or not.’’

‘’He’s right. I don’t think we did anything wrong either.’’ Ann said. Everyone came to sit around their leader to show their support.

‘’His smile only became an honest one while he was with you after all.’’ Yusuke added.

Ren didn’t cheer up by those comments at all. ‘’But if we didn’t do anything he might have still been alive!’’ He yelled, although his voice became weaker and weaker with every word.

No one knew what to say for a moment. ‘’But he wouldn’t have been himself.’’ Haru eventually whispered. ‘’He would’ve been nothing but a mask, tortured by his past experiences.’’

Ren’s crying became softer, but he didn’t move. He didn’t speak.

‘’And we don’t know whether he would’ve survived if we didn’t interact with him either. It does seem to me that Shido is ready to kill anything that isn’t useful to him anymore.’’ Yusuke added. He wasn’t that good when it came to reassuring people, but he tried to ease Ren by stating the facts.

Ren straightened his back, his head still down, tears still falling. But he was laughing. ‘’Yes, you’re right.’’ He said as he stood up. ‘’Shido is the one who had wronged Goro, now he is the one that needs to pay!’’ Ren looked up to face everyone. His eyes were not filled with his usual darkness, but determination was clearly there. He was still in pain, everyone knew he might never get over it, but at least he found a way to deal with what had happened for the time being.

‘’Yes, I agree. The one thing we can still do for Akechi is change Shido’s heart.’’ Makoto said as the whole group began to stand up as well.

‘’Let’s at least make sure he can’t hurt anyone else.’’ Morgana added. ‘’Also, not to break the mood or anything, but we really need to get out of here now.’’

Ren smiled weakly. Everyone was still there for him, even when he was at his worst. The only thing he had ever wished for was for Goro to feel the same, to feel wanted, to feel loved. Ren didn’t know if he had achieved his goal, but as he recollected the memories of his lover’s face at his final moments he believed he did good somewhat. Ren had seen the love in Goro’s eyes, the thankfulness.

A hand on Ren’s shoulder quickly snapped him out of his thoughts. ‘’Let’s go.’’ Ryuji said to him, smiling.

Ren looked at Ryuji, then at the door behind him. ‘’Yes, let’s. I’m sure Goro wouldn’t want me to keep on dwelling here either.’’ Ren answered as he placed his hand on the door. ‘’I’ll miss you.’’ He whispered before he turned to join everyone else.

They were going to do this. They were going to save the country by changing Shido’s heart. But most of all, they were going to avenge Akechi by changing the heart of his father.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I did spend about 30k of words trying to save the boy, only to end him in almost the exact same way.  
> Why? Cause I have thought of about 8 different endings, and this was the only one I actually liked writing.  
> You can always pretend this chapter never existed, I did say the last one would've been sufficient for an ending too after all.
> 
> If you want to see all the different endings, including one I actually started writing, and all my other notes I've made during the writing of this fic you can find them in the Chapter 10 map of my drive map:  
> https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1rjcU11BgbE0rAVOIyC9XZu71YpGD4jzr?usp=sharing
> 
> You are allowed to yell at me for this one, I think I deserve it...  
> (But honestly, I have only written one (1) good ending during my p5 fanfic writing times, so this was to be expected.)
> 
> I already have two new fics planned, so you might see me around some more!


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